The popularity of the Boxing Day sales has come into question this year, as stores trend more towards pre-Christmas sales.
On Boxing Day last year Kiwis spent $225 million across the country, the highest ever spending day recorded through the Paymark network.
Whether this record will be broken this week remains to be seen, particularly as the traditional Boxing Day sales have competition this year, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday competing for our coin.
Massey University professor Jonathan Elms, who heads the university's retail programme, has warned retailers to expect a post-Christmas slump in sales.
"Boxing Day is definitely going to be interesting because I think people are going to be shopped out. Many will have spent all they intend to in pre-Christmas sales. Shops could be left with a load of stock they can't shift because the pattern of trading has changed," he said.
"If the momentum goes out of the market, we are going to experience post-Christmas blues."
He said retailers should adjust their buying and promotional schedules to reflect the fact many shoppers were buying up larger at pre-Christmas sales like Cyber Monday.
Paymark figures released on Wednesday have recorded the second year-on-year spending increase in the lead-up to the Christmas period.
So far, the first 22 days of December 2014 brought an increase of 4.6 per cent compared with the same period in 2013, and this year spending was up again, with $1.2 billion spent in the period December 8-14 alone -- a 7 per cent jump on the same period last year.
Paymark chief executive Mark Rushworth said the figures suggest New Zealanders are spending strongly this Christmas, and not just on presents.
"We are seeing strong transaction growth through merchants with high ticket prices such as furniture stores, garden centres and hardware outlets, plus double-digit annual growth through the hospitality sector.
"These figures are consistent with a generally strong housing market and a positive end of year," he said.
"As we enter the peak shopping period prior to Christmas Day it's interesting to see the patterns emerge and the volumes rise. At Paymark we know spending typically peaks on Christmas Eve and we're already seeing transaction volumes increase in the lead-up to that."
The Mastercard survey also found 41 per cent of respondents said it was easier to shop online to get Boxing Day deals than go in store, and 66 per cent of New Zealanders regularly shop online.
Of those surveyed, 54 per cent said they still liked to check goods out in store prior to purchasing either in-store or online. A total of 18 per cent said they will research online for Boxing Day deals and then go in-store.
For the first time the survey asked what people would spend money on if "Christmas was cancelled" this year. Putting money into investment gained a 39 per cent response, followed by paying off debt (29 per cent) and taking a domestic holiday (22 per cent).
Others said they would buy a new motorbike, buy some designer clothing, go out for an extra special meal, buy additional birthday gifts or make a donation to their favourite charity.
