According to data from eftpos and transactional service Worldline , consumer spending is rising above year-ago levels with the final Christmas shopping week starting strongly.

Within the first week of December, Kiwis have spent nearly $814 million across the retail industry.

Consumer spending maintained its high levels in the second to last full week of pre-Christmas shopping, nudging above spending over the same time last year and surging ahead of pre-Covid levels.

Consumer spending through Core Retail merchants in Worldline NZ’s payments network (excluding Hospitality) was $881m in the week ending Saturday 17 December 2022, which was up just 1.9% on the week ending December 17th in 2021 but up 14.6% on the same week in 2019. The final week of Christmas shopping has also started strongly, with spending recorded on Sunday 18th December 2022 reaching 12.1% higher than the previous Sunday (11th December 2022).

Worldline NZ’s Chief Sales Officer, Bruce Proffit says consumer spending is very likely to increase even further in the days ahead, considering comparative spending patterns from previous years and yesterday’s positive start to the last seven days of Christmas shopping.

“Spending does normally increase week-to-week in the run-up to Christmas, and while we saw an 8.3% jump last week, this was around typical levels,” he says. “However, within that total were some big jumps in week-to-week spending at Recreational Goods retailers (up 28.7%), Clothing and Footwear shops (up 21.9%) and a more moderate jump within the Hardware / Appliances / Furniture sector (up 4.7%).”

“All this suggests spending is on track to jump around 40% this week, as last-minute gift purchases and stocking up on Christmas food climbs to its usual frenzied peak on Friday and Saturday.”