Chief sales officer Bruce Proffit said last month's spending increase signalled a positive start to spring. Photo: 123RF
Consumer spending using cards rose last month, helped along by a spike just ahead of Father's Day.
Worldline New Zealand's card payments network saw core retail sales rise 5.2 percent last month to $2.93 billion, bringing up the three-month rolling average.
Core retail spending dropped 2.4 percent to $8.74b over the past three months, but rose 4.6 percent to $11.58b when hospitality spending was included.
Chief sales officer Bruce Proffit said last month's spending increase signalled a positive start to spring and the peak summer holiday spending period.
"These months are traditionally the slowest for retailers and this has been made more challenging with a combination of generally higher prices - including recently for petrol - and modest demand," he said.