Spending at places like Westfield St Lukes is up on the same time last year. Photo / Dean Purcell
Kiwi shoppers are spending up large in the lead-up to Christmas, new figures reveal.
Sales data shows the usual suspects are being snapped up by gift-hunters, with jewellery, homeware and novelty gift sales picking up as the holiday draws nearer.
AMP Capital Shopping Centres' marketing manager Desiree Clark said jewellery brands like Pandora were doing very well this year.
"Customers are clamouring to get in as soon as they get new stock."
Christmas time was also benefiting book shops, she said, a welcome respite from the struggle against e-books.
"There seems to be a real resurgence in interest in buying a book from a book store, and spending time in the shop browsing and looking at books."
Adult colouring-in books, one of the year's biggest trends, were also selling well, as were accessories such as coloured pencils and pastels, Ms Clark said.
Latest Paymark figures released on Wednesday have recorded the second year-on-year spending increase in the lead-up to the Christmas period.
The first 22 days of December 2014 brought an increase of 4.6 per cent compared with the same period in 2013, and this year spending was up again, with $1.2 billion spent in the period December 8-14 alone - a 7 per cent jump on the same period last year.
Paymark chief executive Mark Rushworth said the figures suggest New Zealanders are spending strongly this Christmas, and not just on presents.
"We are seeing strong transaction growth through merchants with high ticket prices such as furniture stores, garden centres and hardware outlets, plus double-digit annual growth through the hospitality sector.
"These figures are consistent with a generally strong housing market and a positive end of year," he said.
"As we enter the peak shopping period prior to Christmas Day it's interesting to see the patterns emerge and the volumes rise. At Paymark we know spending typically peaks on Christmas Eve and we're already seeing transaction volumes increase in the lead-up to that."
On Boxing Day last year Kiwis spent $225 million across the country, the highest ever spending day recorded through the Paymark network.
Whether this record will be broken this week remains to be seen, particularly as the traditional Boxing Day sales have competition this year, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday competing for our coin.
Massey University professor Jonathan Elms, who heads the university's retail programme, has warned retailers to expect a post-Christmas slump in sales.
"Boxing Day is definitely going to be interesting because I think people are going to be shopped out. Many will have spent all they intend to in pre-Christmas sales. Shops could be left with a load of stock they can't shift because the pattern of trading has changed," he said.
"If the momentum goes out of the market, we are going to experience post-Christmas blues."
He said retailers should adjust their buying and promotional schedules to reflect the fact many shoppers were buying up larger at pre-Christmas sales like Cyber Monday.
There were deals to be had yesterday in central Auckland with bargains galore in Queen St.
Dick Smith was advertising bargains from as little as $1 for various portable and wall phone chargers and other handy gadgets.
Electronics were well discounted at a variety of retailers, with Spark and Vodafone keen to outdo each other with cheap smartphone deals.
Most big clothing brands were offering 30 to 50 per cent reductions on some or all stock. Dotti and Portmans had store-wide discounts while Hallensteins and Glassons offered multi-buy deals on shirts and dresses.
Kathmandu was also offering big reductions, including on a range of children's outdoor accessories.
1 Go shopping at an odd time of day. Lunchtimes and evenings are likely to be the busiest so try to hit the shops as soon as they open.
2 Wear sensible shoes and an outfit you're happy to brush up against countless other harried shoppers in - so maybe not your Sunday best.
3 Eat before you leave and take a drink bottle. Christmas shopping isn't an endurance sport but it can chew up time and hunger doesn't help when trying to choose a thoughtful present.
4 Shop out in the suburbs, at locally owned businesses if you can. Fewer people are likely to be there, and it's good to support Kiwi retailers.
5 Shop online and avoid the whole thing. Disclaimer: with less than a week to go before Christmas, this advice is only helpful if you're happy to play Russian roulette with the chances of your pressies turning up on time.