Tills ring in joy for North retailers

RETAIL THERAPY: Eden Palmer got in some shopping with her mother, Donna, on Boxing Day in Whangarei. PHOTO/JOHN STONE

Northland businesses were gifted with a busy Christmas Eve and Boxing Day as residents splashed out at record levels.

According to the latest Paymark statistics, Northland and Auckland residents spent $100.2 million combined on Christmas Eve and a further $58.8 million on Boxing Day via Eftpos - a 10.4 per cent and 5.1 per cent increase on 2013 respectively.

Northland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Tony Collins attributed the increase in spending to a number of factors.

"I think there's been more people around from out of town," Mr Collins said. He also believed the economic upturn was helping businesses.

Hospitality New Zealand's Northland representative, Phil Sentch, said he was happy with how busy the region was over the holiday period.

"We've had quite a nice December," Mr Sentch said. "Just watching, I think the town's been really vibrant considering the weather we've had."

Mr Sentch, owner of Rynoz Bar and Grill, said the business had seen an increase in customer spending of about 10-12 per cent compared with December last year.

Himalayan Trading Post manager Monique Dane noticed an increase in spending in the lead-up to the big day.

"Christmas Eve was a really busy day for us," she said.

"It was similar to last year and we expected it to be busy.

"We noticed that it was actually in the days before Christmas Eve that spending was higher than last year."

Mokaba manager Alison Ru said it was too early to say whether business was up on this time last year. However, she estimated the business had seen equal amount of locals and tourists over the busy period.

"It started to pick up at the start of December," Ms Ru said. "It's been even busier over Christmas."

Across the country, Kiwis set records by spending $404.3 million through the Paymark network on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

Christmas Eve spending figures were up 10.5 per cent from 2013, while Boxing Day figures were up 4.8 per cent, or an additional $6.4 million

"Christmas Eve this year smashed all our records," said a Paymark spokesman.

"Not only did we see the highest ever spending value through the network, we also saw the highest number of transactions at 4.8 million."