Big spenders break record

FILE

Bay of Plenty shoppers have opened their wallets with Boxing Day sales being the busiest since records began, according to new Paymark figures.

Paymark, which processes around three-quarters of New Zealand's electronic transactions, saw a 12 per cent increase in spending on Boxing Day - an additional $14.4 million in retailers' pockets compared to the same day last year.

It follows record-breaking sales on Christmas Eve, with $238.4 million through the network, 18.5 per cent up on the same day in 2012, said Paymark head of sales and marketing Paul Whiston.

"Christmas Eve this year smashed all our records. Not only did we see the highest value through the network ever, we also saw the highest number of transactions - at 4.35 million - and the largest number of transactions per second."

For Boxing Day, deals at clothing and jewellery stores (+16.5 per cent), appliance and whiteware stores (+16.6 per cent), electronics retailers (+12 per cent), and floor covering and furniture stores (+17.5 per cent) brought the shoppers in.

Bay of Plenty figures released from Paymark showed an increase of 21.1 per cent from $14.3 million last year to $17.3 million this year.