AN increase in newcomers to town and more people sprucing up their houses are potential reasons behind an increase in consumer spending.
Paymark, which processes more than 75 percent of electronic transactions, has supplied data showing that debit and credit cards accounted for $39.4 million-worth of transactions across its networkin Gisborne last month, a rise of 7.8 percent compared with the same month last year. The number of transactions also rose 7.8 percent, to 940,000.
A Paymark spokesman said September was typically the month when spending on family homes increased, and Gisborne, like all regions outside of Auckland, last month experienced growth in that trend.
“The start this year was modest in Auckland but stronger across the rest of the country," the spokesman said.
“A large number of Paymark merchants provide goods that are intended for the house, ranging from garden centres to hardware stores, from appliance shops to furniture outlets, and from fabric shops to carpet suppliers. Combined these merchants transacted $416m spending through the Paymark payments network in September, up $32m from August.”
Gisborne’s Fenns Furniture and Appliances owner Paul Fenn said the recent rise in spending around the house could be down to an influx of newcomers to the region.
“We have found the Gisborne market to be quite buoyant over the past few years. People’s heightened interest in houses (both new-builds and renovation) has certainly helped our business.
“What we have seen in recent times that is worth noting is the number of new people to Gisborne. We have seen many new customers who have moved here and are very happy with the value for money they get in Gisborne on both new homes and their furnishings.
