Bay experiences rise in retail spending

Retail spending in the Bay of Plenty increased by 2.9 per cent in the month of June compared to the same time last year according to the latest Paymark figures.

A total of 4.65million transactions occurred in the Bay of Plenty in June 2012 compared to 4.52million in June 2011.

According to the figures a total of $227million was spent in June 2012 compared to $220.4 in June 2011.

Mount Mainstreet manager Leanne Brown says Mount Mainstreet doesn’t gather any evidence from our retailers regarding spending, but there appears to still be mixed results.

“Depending on who you speak to, some businesses are up on last year with the benchmark they use and some are about the same,” says Leanne.

Paymark head of sales and marketing Paul Whiston says comparing the first-half year spending through the Paymark network nationwide in 2012, compared with four years ago at the onset of the Global Financial Crisis, there has been a 12.2 per cent growth.

By contrast, Auckland and Northland’s four-year growth was higher than the national average at 14.8 per cent, while Wellington saw a 9.3 per cent increase. 

“This suggests that there’s still a way to go for the region to catch up, and after visiting Christchurch last week and speaking to several business people, there are still some sectors doing it tough,” he adds. 

For New Zealand in total, Paymark figures show that non-fuel spending increased for the third consecutive month once seasonal factors are taken into account. 

“We’ve been witnessing better than usual spending in recent months – June continued this trend, no doubt in part due to the lower petrol prices over the month.” 

Paul says in terms of growth sectors, Kiwis are seizing the opportunity to dine out despite winter temperatures, with accelerated spending recorded in many parts of the hospitality industry, and cafes and restaurants reporting an annual growth of 9.3 per cent.

Annual growth was also high amongst clothing shops, up 13 per cent in June. 

Many building related merchants continued to report higher spending this year, with home decorating and hardware stores up 7.2 per cent.

Modest annual growth was also recorded amongst travel companies at 2 per cent, a turnaround from previous months. 

Nationwide, during June, the number of monthly card transactions was 4.5 per cent higher than a year ago.