Pre-Easter Spending Shows Some Positive Signs

Pre-Easter Spending Shows Some Positive Signs

Pre-Easter spending combined with an extra weekend shopping day made March a busy month for Kiwis, according to the latest figures from the country’s leading payments provider, Paymark.

Steady week-to-week growth saw the value of Paymark transactions throughout March increase by 4.8 per cent, the fastest annual growth rate since October 2008.

While weekly growth was steady nationwide, regional and industry spending was more of a mixed bag. Annual growth was higher outside the large urban centres with Gisborne (+12 per cent) and South Canterbury (+11 per cent) leading the way. The combined Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury regions (+4.1 per cent) remained below the national average.

The industry sectors that experienced strong growth during the month were footwear (+ 16 per cent), fuel (+14 per cent), automotive repair outlets (+11 per cent) and food takeaways (+10 per cent). However, not all sectors experienced this growth - fresh produce and clothing were down two and one per cent respectively.

The tourism sector (one of the country’s two main export industries) was also up during March, with hotel accommodation spending jumping 49 per cent from the June 2009 low and 7.7 per cent on the March peak of 2009.

Simon Tong, CEO of Paymark, says that this latest data continues the theme of a patchy recovery for retail.

“We continue to see variation across sectors and regions this year. Whilst some New Zealand retail outlets are experiencing steady growth, others are still finding their feet. Our figures indicate we’ve still got a way to go before we’re back on track,” he says.

Editor’s Note: Easter Trading

As the country moved into holiday mode with the Easter long weekend, a surge was also evident on what is New Zealand’s third busiest shopping day. Thursday, April 1 saw a total of 3.3 million transactions processed through the Paymark network, up 10.1 per cent on the same date last year.

Across the four days of the long weekend, the total volume of transactions was up 5.4 per cent on Easter 2009.

ENDS

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