Spending in the Bay of Plenty region rose by 8.4 per cent during the July school holidays, according to Paymark.

Figures released today show shoppers made just under 5.5 million transactions during July, compared to around 5 million transactions for the same month in 2013.

Shoppers spent up large during July school holidays.

The value of spending also increased by 6.7 per cent, with transactions totalling $264.7m this year compared to the $248m for the same month last year.

Sectors that saw the biggest increases were clothing and footwear stores, appliance outlets and department stores, most likely due to the late onset of winter.

Tauranga's Moochi manager Nik James says the clothing store was one business that experienced an increase.

'Spending was definitely on the up, but it was quite unusual for us,” she says.

'During July a lot of our local clients were in town, where as normally they would be away skiing or somewhere tropical.

'There were some holidaymakers who shopped with us.”

Down the road at Tango's Shoes it was a similar story according to manager Sharon Morris who says spending in the store goes up when school holidays roll around.

But last month is was holidaymakers doing the shopping, not locals.

'The increase was steady, slightly up to what it normally is, but not noticeably higher,” she says.

'We do get a lot of out-of-towners who come in to shop which is always good.”

Paymark customer relations head Mark Spicer says spending traditionally increases during the school holidays.

But this year saw a regional increase of 9.4 per cent during the two week period which was well above previous years.

Total spending through the Paymark network during July was up 6.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:

• The number of monthly card transactions was 7.4 per cent higher than last July.
• Credit card growth (including contactless cards) was up 15.8 per cent in July surpassing debit card growth of 4.9 per cent.
• Sectors showing the highest annual growth were food and liquor stores up 11.6 per cent, followed by cafes and restaurants at 11.2 per cent and accommodation providers with a 9.7 per cent increase.
• Hardware store annual growth was up 5.1 per cent but remained below the double-digit rate of previous months.