Big spend-up tops good year

Consumers are spending-up big this Christmas - more than 10 per cent over last year.

Rotorua tills are ringing with the joys of Christmas as spending is up more than 10 per cent over last year - the biggest rise in the country for the second week running.

Statistics released by Paymark revealed Bay of Plenty residents spent $92.3 million in the third week of December, 10.9 per cent more than in 2014.

Residents spent $80.3 million in the second week of December - almost $8 million more than in 2014.

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darrin Walsh said the spending came on the back of a strong year for the local economy.

"We've had a good year in Rotorua," he said yesterday. "Tourism's going through the roof ... Rotorua's increasingly being seen as a must-see tourist destination for internationals and locals.

"Local businesses have been doing well as well so people have got money in their pocket to spend.

"I imagine the next couple of days will be crazy."

Mr Walsh expected the local economy to be fuelled again in the new year.

"Some locals seem to go away for Christmas but then we get a big flood of tourists coming in in the new year, which should put things off to a good start in 2016."

Mike Byrne, of McLeods Booksellers in Pukuatua St, said the store had been extremely busy this month.

"[December] has been exponential. Once school holidays start, people seem to sleep in then come out and go mad."

McLeods' online sales were increasing but the majority of sales were still in store, he said.

"People generally like to have the physical experience of flicking through the books they're interested in buying. Rotorua people are very supportive of local businesses, which is great."

Celebrity chef Nadia Lim's latest book Fresh Start, celebrity nutritionist Dr Libby Weaver's Exhausted to Energized, Dan Carter's biography My Story and Bill Bryson's Road to Little Dribbling were proving popular so far this year, he said.

"We've also had a pick up in CD sales," Mr Byrne said.

"Adele's CD 25 is popular of course, and so are Christmas-themed CDs," he said.

Nationally, electronic spending for the third week of December was up 8.2 per cent year-on-year to $1.42 billion.

Kiwis swiped their cards 11.8 million times from December 18 to 20 - the busiest three day-period this year.

The transactions equated to $604.1 million of spending, a 3.8 per cent increase year-on-year.

Paymark chief executive Mark Rushworth said the results were consistent with strong spending growth this Christmas.

Friday was the busiest day so far this year with $225.5 million spent around the country through Paymark's network.

"Typically we see between 50 and 60 transactions a second but already we're seeing 115 to 120 transactions per second, so we are expecting a very big day [today]".