The Rugby World Cup will be welcome relief for retailers dealing with a slowdown in retail spending, electronic payments provider Paymark says.
Latest figures show that while the value of transactions during July and August rose 3.7 per cent against last year - growth was below that recorded for the first half of this year.
Paymark's head of sales and marketing Paul Whiston said the slowdown had been particularly noticeable during the last two months with soft trading conditions across most sectors.
"I think it would be fair to say that few businesses have escaped the mixed spending patterns."
The anticipated spending boost by tourists in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup, would be welcomed by retailers, he said.
Department stores (down 3.6 per cent year-on-year) and furniture stores (down 5.5 per cent year-on-year) were among the hardest hit by the retail spending slowdown, while spending at food and liquor stores rose 7.8 per cent during the same period.
Auckland/Northland saw the biggest lift in spending in August - up 7.3 per cent - second only to the Bay of Plenty, up 7 per cent, while in Canterbury annual spending fell 3.5 per cent.
- NZ HERALD ONLINE