File photo. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Inflation, interest rates and the cost of living influenced a slight decline in Boxing Day sales spending, disappointed retailers say.
In-store retail spending on 26 December totalled $98.3 million, excluding hospitality, according to data from payment provider Worldline NZ.
The figure was 0.6 percent down on Boxing Day in 2022, although spending at food and liquor outlets was up 14 percent on last year, to $14.6 million.
Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said the real impact would be greater than 0.6 percent.
"Whilst a 0.6 percent decline is probably as good as we could have hoped for, it doesn't tell the whole story. You kind of have to overlay the economic factors and the immigration figures to really understand that is quite a significant decline from last year," she said.
"People's rents are increasing, we know that mortgage rates are increasing, so all of those factors mean that people are really cautious about what they can spend their money on. There's less in their wallet to go around and everything is costing more."
Wellington recorded the biggest regional decline in Boxing Day spending, with a drop of 10.8 percent.
Young said government signals about possible public sector job cuts had made Wellingtonians cautious.
"They had two cruise ships in and town looked pretty busy, but obviously sales were significantly down so that does tell us that people are very cautious in Wellington."
Worldline NZ chief of sales Bruce Proffit said while the drop in Boxing Day spending would be disappointing for retailers it was line with overall trends seen over the past six months.
The most transactions per minute were recorded at 12.34pm on Boxing Day, when 6074 payments were processed through Worldline NZ's network, although 22 December was officially the busiest shopping day of the year.