Kiwi Christmas shoppers have spent $170 million more this month than at the same time last year and retailers are hoping the splurge will continue on Christmas Day online.

Kiwis have already spent more than $3 billion in the lead-up to Christmas. Paymark yesterday revealed it had processed more than 59 million electronic transactions...

iPhones, barbecues, outdoor furniture and costumes from Disney's Frozen movie will be filling stockings next week if Trade Me search patterns are anything to go by.

Kiwis have spent a total of $2.3b through Paymark so far this month with Christmas spending up 4.3%

Christmas spending is off to a strong start with, up 4.4 per cent on the same time last year.

Web retailers are offering shoppers speedy shipping, one-day upgrades and even promises to deliver last-minute orders by Christmas Day.

Kiwis increased their spending on debit and credit cards in November, with a rise in hospitality and consumable purchases.

More than 125 gifts for him and for her, for girls, boys and difficult teens, for foodies and home-improvers, and for those who are hard to buy for.

For 30 years, the sheltered daisy-covered banks and fields of an Auckland suburban park have become a cradle of happiness for a summer's day of picnics, music, kids entertainment and pre Christmas shopping.

There have been near-disasters with Christmas floats crashing into buildings, rain wrecking the displays and a cat giving birth mid-parade - but the Farmers Santa Parade is still going strong and continues to annually draw a huge crowd.

Kiwi retailers are today hoping to cash in on "Black Friday", America's biggest shopping day of the year, by luring consumers with promises of big discounts on goods ahead of Christmas.

It's back, it's big and - for Click Monday organiser Cate Bryant, the potential of New Zealand's biggest online shopping day is almost limitless.

Four women of Chinese descent are suing Sephora for allegedly blocking and deactivating the accounts of 'Asian-sounding' customers during a 20 per cent off sale.

The rebirth of an old market, once teeming with hippy and bohemian traders and curious customers, has lured three Aucklanders back to Victoria Park where they spent happy times as teenagers.

People are becoming more comfortable with the new way of paying for small items, with a trebling in the use of contactless card transactions over the past year.

Men are now the primary grocery shoppers in about four in 10 households in America and food companies are taking notice.

Kathmandu, which today posted a 4.5pc decline in annual profit, said Australasian earnings should rise in the coming year.

Shoppers are being duped by price-matching offers, with only 5 per cent taking advantage.

Kathmandu says a cold snap last month in Australia and New Zealand helped generate more sales than anticipated.

EBay plans to experiment with selling auto mechanics' services alongside car parts, said Devin Wenig, president of the marketplaces business, in an expansion of the company's offerings.

Stores are still pushing extended warranties despite a law change that should put a stop to the hard sell.

Editorial: According to an online survey, more than a third of Kiwis want checkouts to be sugar-free. But why should supermarkets bow to this demand?

New Zealanders are choosing to do more and more of their shopping on the go according to a Nielsen's Online Retail Report.

New Zealand core retail spending on debit and credit cards fell in June for the first time in four months.

A six-year-old racked up a credit card bill of more than $1,200 in just two days, playing games on his parents' tablet.