How much Kiwis spent online during Black Friday, Cyber Monday

The NZ Post distribution centre in Highbrook, Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell

NZ Post said it delivered more than two million parcels in the week following Black Friday and Cyber Monday as online spending soared to new highs for November.

New eCommerce Spotlight research by NZ Post shows Kiwis spent $585 million online in November, with $115m spent between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Online shopping was up 27 per cent for the month on the same period last year.

Chris Wong, NZ Post general manager of business marketing, said the figures show just how much Covid has changed the way Kiwis shop, with more New Zealanders shopping online than ever before.

"Despite everything going on in the world around us, we saw November retail shopping volumes – driven by Singles Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales – hit new all-time highs.

"We are currently experiencing the highest growth period for online shopping in history. This is great news for retailers and the local economy, especially given that 70 per cent of this spend was here in New Zealand."

Wong said NZ Post delivered about 450,000 more parcels in the two weeks following Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales than in 2019.

And NZ Post has brought in hundreds of extra people, vans and flights to cope with the lead-up to Christmas, Wong said.

"We are currently delivering about two million parcels per week and expect this to continue in the lead-up to Christmas day.

"This is roughly similar to the number of parcels we were processing in the surge following the move from level 4 into level 3 earlier in the year.

"The good news is that this time around we were able to plan and prepare, bringing on hundreds of extra people, vans and flights to deliver these parcels."

Wong had advice for New Zealanders looking to send Christmas presents around the country.

"Our message to Kiwis is to send on those Christmas presents to your loved ones as early as possible to make sure they arrive under the tree in time."