Christmas shopping in Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
- Busiest shopping day of the year
- Peak time 12pm-1pm, 607,299 transactions
- Peak for sales per second - 179 transactions within a second
- Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 10,408 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline said 12pm to 1pm saw 607,299 sales recorded on its network.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions is the lowest of the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted an increase in sales in the first two weeks of December on a year ago, but said sales varied between regions.
It said then consumer spending in core retail merchants, which excluded hospitality, reached $1.65b, a rise of 1.2 percent on the same period in 2023.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed flat spending for the month, and a fall of 2.3 percent for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and interest rates, and fears of a worsening labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report turning optimistic for the first time in three years.
Boxing Day is expected to remain the country's favourite shopping day this year despite a big Black Friday spend, with Worldline expecting some numbers to be available on Friday.