Rotorua's town bustles with shoppers making most of Boxing Day sales

Boxing Day shoppers in the Rotorua Central Mall. Photo / Ben Fraser

Hundreds of shoppers braved the Boxing Day hustle and bustle in Rotorua yesterday to enjoy the sunshine and snap up the sales on offer.

Boxing Day is one of the busiest days of the year for local retailers as locals and visitors alike hunt for the best bargains.

The Warehouse Rotorua store manager Sally Rison said the store had had an "absolutely crazy" day.

"We've been absolutely flat tack. It's been great having lots of customers come back and visit us today."

She said everything was flying off the shelves, but key areas this Boxing Day had been around pools, electronics and toys.

Rotorua Central Mall is bustling on Boxing Day. Photo / Ben Fraser

Capers Epicurean Cafe Rotorua night duty manager Amandeep Kaur said the eatery had not been as busy as last year's Boxing Day, but it was still a busy day which was always great.

Rotorua's Mel Gerritsen said her family had been at the Rotorua Central Mall for about an hour and had found some good bargains, especially at Hallensteins.

She said although this year's Boxing Day was busy, she hadn't found it as chaotic as previous years.

"The queues have been pretty good today and it was quite easy for us to get a park."

Gerritsen said she rarely missed out on shopping the Boxing Day sales.

"Just for the specials, and normally the kids have vouchers and want to spend them."

Rotorua's Kelly Parker said she too was shopping at the mall with her family, though normally she stayed away from the shops on Boxing Day because it was often "a madhouse".

However, she said the hustle and bustle was not too bad and it was better than she expected.

Parker said she had needed some new shorts and was able to get a pair on sale.

After the Boxing Day shopping, Parker said her family would go home to enjoy the sunshine.

Despite all the people in town catching bargains, when the Rotorua Daily Post asked its readers on Facebook if they would be heading out to the Boxing Day sales, those commenting gave a resounding "no".

Paymark figures showed Kiwis were in the mood to shop in the lead-up to Christmas.

The figures showed last weekend there were 182 transactions per second nationwide.

In the past weekend, Kiwis spent $130.5 million on the food and liquor category with people in the Bay of Plenty spending more than $30m on everything excluding fuel.