Retail rush as Hawke's Bay has a $13 million weekend

Shopper Anaru Durham battled both rain and crowds to buy some last-minute items before Christmas. Photo / Warren Buckland

It might be the most wonderful time of the year, but for shoppers and retailers alike the lead-up to Christmas can be more than a bit stressful.

According Paymark, people in Hawke's Bay spent $13.3 million (excluding fuel) at its Eftpos terminals across the region over the weekend before Christmas.

This was up 2.1 per cent compared to the same weekend last year.

The total spent across New Zealand for that weekend was $4.2 billion, up 3.1 per cent from last year, and a Paymark spokesperson said once they had data from Christmas Eve, that was likely to crack $5 billion.

Shopper Anaru Durham said he had spent an hour in K-Mart in Hastings on Christmas Eve, despite only needing to buy a couple of items.

He was only in line for about 10 minutes, but the massive crowds had made it difficult to work his way through the store, he said.

His next stop was the supermarket, something he was not looking forward to, but hoped with a bit of a game plan it would not be quite so bad.

Last minute shoppers at The Plaza in Hastings. Photo / Warren Buckland

Countdown Napier store manager Philippa Restonsaid the last couple of days before Christmas were busy, but they were prepared.

"It's one of those things, when it hits, you have to have done prep work otherwise you just don't make it through."

She said despite it being busy, the staff were enjoying themselves.

"It's our time to shine."

Christmas Eve and Boxing Day are traditionally two of the busiest retail days of the year, with sales expected to draw thousands to the shops on the 26th.