"That's on the back of two-and-a-half years of solid growth. August to November have been flat out. It's been a nice build up to Christmas for us."
Mr Ellingford said Bayfair had seen record foot traffic numbers.
Traditionally, the centre's busiest months were December and January, where it would get more than 500,000 customers. October and November had already reached that.
"For us, that's very impressive."
Yvette Lamare hit Bayfair Shopping Centre yesterday after she had finished work to buy Christmas presents for two grandchildren.
She bought two bikes for her young grandchildren from Kmart on their mother's behalf because she was unable to get to the shops herself.
Ms Lamare had the presents gift wrapped on site by the Scouts, saving her daughter another chore.
Fraser Cove centre manager Marie Mischewski said the centre had been busy since November. Traffic counts showed the highest volume of cars entering the centre since records began in 2010.
"What has surprised me is it doesn't seem like people have left their shopping until the last minute. It seems the impetus to get out and do some shopping happened at the end of November."
The Warehouse Fraser Cove assistant store manager Sean Longman said staff members were constantly serving customers this year, whereas other years the staff often had quiet pockets.
"It's been busy and we're really enjoying it. It's just great to see there is some money out there and people are out to spend."
Books A Plenty co-owner Chris Baskett said the lead up to Christmas was far busier than last year.
"It's a much bigger Christmas, a book-y Christmas," she said. "We've been very very busy."
Books A Plenty's top Christmas seller was Rendell's Tauranga - Historic Tauranga From Above. The book by 97-year-old Tauranga man Alf Rendell features aerial photos of Tauranga and surrounds taken between 1946 and 1956.
Most buyers were locals but internet orders were also going well, Mrs Baskett said.
Mrs Baskett expected the store to be full of last-minute shoppers this week.
Greerton Village centre manager Sally Benning said the village was bustling.
"There are people everywhere, it's really, really chocka.
"The carparks, every time I walk down town, there are people coming in and out all the time. There are lots of people with shopping bags - it's the typical week before Christmas."
Downtown Tauranga manager Sally Cooke said the streets were looking busy with lots of people out and about doing their Christmas shopping. Cafes and restaurants had also been pumping.
"It should be a great week for our retail sector as well as work lets out and people get into their Christmas shopping."
Nationwide, electronic spending for the second week of December was up 7 per cent year-on-year to $1.2 billion.
Paymark
* Paymark processes more than 75 per cent of New Zealand's electronic transactions.
* The company is essentially the middleman between the bank and the point of sale technology (such as the Eftpos machine).
* It started in 1989 and last month clocked up its 14 billionth transaction.
* Last year, $404.3 million was spent through the Paymark network on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.
* Christmas Eve alone accounted for $263.5 million in processing.
- paymark.co.nz
