Spending is up in the Bay of Plenty with the latest Paymark statistics showing shoppers undeterred by the October 1 GST increase to 15 per cent.

The eftpos provider's figures show the number of transactions made by shoppers in the region increased last month by 5.8 per cent compared with October last year and the value of the purchases rose by 5.3 per cent.

Paymark CEO Simone Tong says an increase was expected; but to this degree was a surprise.

'We anticipated a rise in the value of transactions, relative to the 2.5 per cent GST increase, however, the combined volume and value figures indicate not only an increase
in spending, but that we are also purchasing more often,” says Simone.

The spending increase by 5.3 per cent in the Bay of Plenty rated as the third highest increase by region.

The Auckland/Northland increase of 6.4 per cent was the biggest for October, followed by 6.3 per cent in Waikato.

The worst performing region was Marlborough with the volume of transactions dropping by 8.4 per cent compared with October 2009, and the value of transactions dropping by 9.2 per cent.

These negative numbers are more like what Mount Mainstreet manager Leanne Brown expected in the Bay of Plenty, but was pleasantly surprised to learn of the increase.

'I thought we'd see a dip in spending when the GST changes came into effect,” says Leanne, who notes the impact of the arrival of cruise ships to the region for the summer season in October, should not be underestimated.

Overall, New Zealand's value of spending rose 3.3 per cent last month compared with October 2009.