City's spenders opt for stores

More people in Rotorua are choosing to shop at stores instead on online.

Rotorua residents still prefer to shop for New Zealand products in stores, despite spending more on overseas websites, figures show.

The BNZ Marketview report for December showed a small decrease in online shopping from December 2013 by Rotorua residents. Spending on domestic sites was down 8.4 per cent, while spending on overseas sites was up 17.2 per cent.

Rotorua Lapidary Rock and Gemstone Shop co-director Bev Simmons said sales were still much stronger instore than online. The store has been open for 33 years and its website has been running for about eight or nine years.

"We sell a lot of specialised products so people still like to see what they're buying before they buy," she said.

"Our inquiries are a little bit up since going online and some people ask to be sent photos, but mostly we get people coming in through word of mouth."

In general, Ms Simmons said, her customers seemed to prefer seeing items before they bought them - and not only specialised products.

Marketview managing director Stephen Bridle said it was interesting to see New Zealanders living outside of metro areas embracing online spending on overseas sites.

"The growth in e-commerce internationally has started putting 5th Avenue and Oxford St into the living rooms and kitchens of provincial New Zealand households - and they seem to love it," he said.

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darrin Walsh said he always encouraged people to "support local, buy local".

"Our retailers need people shopping locally to support our local businesses. When you live in a small town outside a metro centre you don't always have the choice. And when there are sales people tend to go online rather than into the stores.

"But with online shopping it really is a case of buyer beware. You just never know what you're going to get. I've heard of some real horror stories," he said.

"But I think overall people in Rotorua are spending more in stores, and that's a reflection that the economy is starting to bounce back. When you have confidence in the economy, people start to spend.

"Online sales tend to be for more specialist items that aren't always stocked in store, or for things people feel they can get cheaper direct through the merchandiser." Nationally, online spending was up 12 per cent from December 2013.

Food and entertainment goods were the stand out categories for online spending growth, with increases of more than 20 per cent from December 2013, the report found.

On domestic sites, spending on "newspaper and books" and "computers and peripherals" were up 18 per cent and 21 per cent respectively. Spending at physical stores was up by about 4 per cent. Additional reporting Erin Majurey.