January consumer spending up, hospitality spending drops

Worldline NZ data shows core retail spending in January was up on last year but hospitality spending continued to drop. Photo / Andrew Warner

Retail spending had a slight lift in January while hospitality spending dropped 1.4 per cent, according to new data from Worldline.

Electronic payments through provider Worldline across the country showed consumer spending (excluding hospitality) came in at $3.07 billion, up 3.9 per cent on last January.

Chief sales officer Bruce Proffit said this might not have been the summer many of these merchants were hoping for, especially given the growing number of visitors to the country.

“While spending through core retail stores is better than the 0.4 per cent annual growth rate reported for December 2023, it remains a very modest increase when considered alongside the trading disruptions that occurred in January 2023 and ongoing higher consumer prices,” Proffit said.

But hospitality spending fell 1.4 per cent from last January at $1.02b, which included spending at cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs, fast food outlets, hotels and motels.

Hospitality spending dropped last month on the previous year even though last year’s trading was disrupted by extreme weather events in late January and an influx of tourists this year.

Wellington and Marlborough had the biggest drop in hospitality spending, down 11.1 per cent and 10.3 per cent on last January respectively, while West Coast and Wairarapa experienced a jump, up 7.4 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively on last January.

The total hospitality spending across Worldline’s networks in NZ came to $11.7b over the past 12 months.

Core retail spending last month was highest in Whanganui (up 8 per cent) and Waikato (up 7.3 per cent) and lowest in Southland (down 5.3 per cent).

Last month, the Herald reported that Worldline’s retail network broke spending records last year as consumer spending came in at $36.b, up 3.8 per cent on the previous year.

But data showed the average transaction size in 2023 was $51.10, down 1.5 per cent on 2022, suggesting shoppers were more careful with their spending last year.

Proffit said the lower average transaction value went against a trend of rising consumer prices, but people were spending more often.

He said the data showed “a tendency towards more spending at food and liquor stores (up 8 per cent for 2023) but less in other retail sectors, such as clothing and footwear (down 0.1 per cent) and across a range of hardware, garden and furniture stores (down 6.2 per cent)”.

Alka Prasad is an Auckland-based business reporter covering small business and retail.