Blow the sales, let's party

Many retailers had started discounting before Christmas and Boxing Day sales lasted up to a week. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Big Boxing Day sales may be a thing of the past for Kiwi shoppers. Paymark statistics released yesterday show we spent more on New Year's Eve than on Boxing Day.

About $172 million was processed on the Paymark network on the last day of the year, up $12.2m on 2013, whereas shoppers racked up $140m in sales on Boxing Day.

Christmas Eve was again the busiest day, with a spend of $263.5m. That includes spending at bars and restaurants but retail experts said there were signs of a trend away from Boxing Day being the biggest shopping day of the year.

Many retailers had started discounting before Christmas and Boxing Day sales lasted up to a week.

AUT professor of retailing Andrew Parsons said December 26 did not seem as big a shopping event in 2014 as in previous years.

He said that could be an effect of the changing economy. Since 2011 retailers had had to focus on Boxing Day to lure customer spending after a tight year, but 2014 had not been as tough, with better spending throughout.

"Even internationally, in the US and Europe, online it's not as big a deal in terms of Boxing Day sales, it has definitely dropped off as the economy is on the improve.

"It probably means they haven't had to go into such deep discounts as in the past."

Retail New Zealand spokesman Greg Harford said he went to the supermarket on New Year's Eve to find the shelves empty.

He said the pre-Christmas sales meant Boxing Day had lost some impact. "It's a competitive marketplace. They're trying hard to get customers through the door."

New Zealanders spent $5.3billion through the Paymark network in December, up $300m on December 2013.

Paymark processes 75 per cent of our electronic transactions.