Christmas spending rises

Hawke's Bay businesses are thriving in the last minute Christmas rush.

Statistics released by Paymark showed Hawke's Bay residents spent $105.3 million dollars in the first 22 days of December, a 2.3 per cent increase on 2013.

Owner of Kiwi Keith's Quality Backpackers in Napier, Keith Mann, said his business had felt the positive effects of the spending increase.

"The whole of December, we have been full," he said. "We are a new backpackers so haven't even had a chance to advertise or anything. We have even been having to turn people away.

"The town centre has also been flat out. You can hardly drive through the town centre for cars and people. Everyone is rushing around trying to get their last minute shopping done and there are a lot of tourists here too."

Mr Mann expected the backpackers to remain full until March.

"October to March are peak times of the year for tourists and backpackers so we are hoping to stay full until then before business tapers off in June and July."

Kiwis across New Zealand were also spending up in the rush before Christmas, with a total of $3.9 billion spent. This was $170 million more than in the first 22 days of last December.

An increase of 6.5 per cent in eftpos transactions was also recorded, with Kiwis swiping their cards 76.23 million times.

Otago, Auckland-Northland and Bay of Plenty had the biggest spending increases on 2013, with rises of 8.5, 7.4 and 7 per cent respectively.

Paymark's head of customer relations Mark Spicer said the rush had been influenced by a slow start to the spending season and a late entry into summer.

"Growth in transaction numbers indicate that Kiwis have been out spending but there could be a number of factors influencing the Christmas spend showing the level of year-on-year growth seen in previous months," he said.

"A late start to summer and lower fuel prices may be impacting overall value.

"Additionally, an increasing number of retailers are starting their Boxing Day sales before Christmas which may be contributing to the increase in the number of transactions we're processing, but the value may be slightly lower."

Other sectors which increased compared with last December were:

* Watches and jewellery, up 10.4 per cent.
* Pharmacy, health and beauty, up 8.3 per cent.
* Accommodation and hospitality, up 8 per cent.
* Supermarkets, takeaways and other food stores, up 7.6 per cent.
* Books and DVDs, up 5.9 per cent.