Soft Retail Sales Continue In August

The Worldline retail spending data through core retail merchants for August 2024 shows soft retail spending with a decrease 0.5% year on year for the month.

“While August is when we start to see the volume of sales increase it may be some months before we have turned the corner” says Carolyn Young, Chief Executive at Retail NZ.

The recent Business NZ Sentiment Survey indicated that the top three concerns for business are profitability, interest rates and inflation. Recent economic indicators show that inflation has come under control and interest rates are on the way down, but remain a factor, alongside profitability as retailers margins are squeezed.

“In August we have seen tax breaks together with the cuts in the Official Cash Rate and a small improvements in consumer confidence, however these factors are yet to have a major impact on consumer spending as outlined in the Worldline data. We are hopeful that if businesses can survive the next few months then we may turn the corner in time for Christmas trading.”

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