HIGHLIGHTS
• Total online retail spending by New Zealanders in February was up 14% compared to the previous February. This is a solid performance, especially when considering that last year was a leap year. (An extra days shopping in
February can boost the month’s spending by more than 3%, depending on factors such as the day of the week the extra day
falls on)
• Purchases from offshore online retailers in February were up 16% on February 2016. Key trends were similar to January, with Clothing and
Computer stores again responsible for approximately half of the year-on-year increase. Pharmacy and Cosmetic purchases
from offshore sites also saw strong growth, up more than 40%.
• Spending at local online retailers was up 12% on February last year, significantly stronger than the year-on-year growth rate at bricks
and mortar stores (approximately 0.1%). Food categories were responsible for over 40% of the increase in online
purchases at local merchants since last February.