Retailers Strike Gold Courtesy Of Olympics Coverage
Electronic transaction figures for the two weeks prior to the 2008 Olympics show that there was a 13% increase in the
total sales of appliances throughout the country relative to the fortnight prior, according to data from Paymark, New
Zealand’s leading electronic payments provider.
Comments from retailers and Freeview, the free-to-air digital television and radio platform which carried New Zealand’s
first High Definition coverage of the Olympics, suggest that the increase was driven mainly by the sale of TV sets.
Jason Bell, General Manager of Merchandise at Noel Leeming Group comments: “We’ve been really pleased with the lift in
sales of Flat Panel TVs over the two week period prior to the commencement of the Olympics. We see this as a direct
result of the launch and availability of High Definition content on Freeview and SKY. In addition, TVNZs Olympic
coverage and our successful Noel Leeming sponsorship of the New Zealand Olympic team have also paid handsome dividends.”
Steve Browning, General Manager of Freeview, echoes these sentiments and says the Olympics have had a direct impact on
Freeview uptake.
“The feedback we’ve received from retailers suggests that TVNZs broadcasting of the games on Freeview prompted a real
spike in sales, particularly with consumers who were after the two channels of Olympics coverage and the enhanced
viewing experience of high definition pictures and surround sound on Freeview|HDTM,” he says.
The Paymark network processes three quarters of all electronic transactions and nearly 90% of Kiwis have a debit card,
which puts us ahead of any other country in the world in terms of EFTPOS use.
ENDS
About Paymark:
In 1989 three banks came together to form Electronic Transaction Services Limited. They had the vision of a national
real time payment system. Through their commitment to the retail payments industry the company has developed what has
arguably become the best EFTPOS system in the world.
EFTPOS appeared on the New Zealand retail scene in 1984, only five years after the country’s first Bank ATM (cash
dispenser) was installed. New Zealand’s first EFTPOS system operated from a service station and a supermarket attached
to a bank computer.
In March 1990 volumes through the network exceeded 1 Million transactions a month.
In 1994 the company increased its computer processing power to accommodate volumes exceeding 10 Million transactions a
month. In 1996 Bank of New Zealand joined the network and EFTPOS as a payment mechanism entered a tremendous growth
phase.
In 1998 ETSL passed another milestone - as the 1 Billionth EFTPOS transaction was processed. By the year 2000 EFTPOS was
well and truly identified as a public utility. ETSL saw its 2 Billionth transaction pass through the system in November
2000 and 6 Billionth transaction mid way through 2007. The system, rebranded as the Paymark EFTPOS network, processes
nearly 75% of all electronic transactions in the New Zealand retail market on behalf of more than 50 card issuers and
acquirers. More than 65,000 merchants and 80,000 terminals are currently connected to the network that is now 3DES and
EMV compliant.
The company offers services to merchants, card issuers and acquirers for eftpos, eCommerce, mCommerce and ATM payment
and related transaction processing.