Christmas Shopping Hits Peak Levels

Christmas Shopping Hits Peak Levels

Record number of transactions as momentum builds

A surge in electronic transactions points to a promising lead up to Christmas, according to electronic transaction network provider Paymark EFTPOS.

Usage on the Paymark EFTPOS network reached the highest level this year at 12:13pm on Thursday with 83.6 transactions per second. Total transactions on Thursday were just under the total for Christmas Eve in 2004, at 2.86 million, with 277,500 in the peak hour. There have been more than 2 million transactions per day on each of the working days this week.

Darryl Roots, Paymark spokesperson, says the figures are a good sign for businesses and suggest a final shopping rush on Friday and Christmas Eve.

“There appears to be more momentum leading into Christmas this year when compared to previous years. Factors like Christmas falling on a Sunday and peoples’ increased use of debit and credit cards contribute to the increase, but all the same the signs are positive for businesses. Given levels throughout this week we could possibly top three million transactions on Christmas Eve.”

John Albertson, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Retailers Association, agrees.

“As we anticipated New Zealanders seem to be leaving their Christmas shopping right up until the last minute. This latest information is very heartening and with the inclusion of the extra Saturday in the lead up to Christmas Day we are expecting a strong finish to the season.”

Daily Transaction Volumes

Sat 17 2,401,797

Sun 18 1,781,148

Mon 19 2,034,848

Tue 20 2,347,191

Wed 21 2,615,575

Thurs 22 2,861,028

The Paymark EFTPOS network accounts for around 80% of all electronic transactions in New Zealand.

Ends.

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