Latest fromShopping

Hippies back at Vic Park
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.

Contactless card payments soar
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.

Food labels lack data
Most shoppers want a new clear labelling system to help identify sustainable products, a study has found.

Male grocery shoppers the new target of food brands
Men are now the primary grocery shoppers in about four in 10 households in America and food companies are taking notice.

Kathmandu steps up global expansion as profit slips
Kathmandu, which today posted a 4.5pc decline in annual profit, said Australasian earnings should rise in the coming year.

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

EBay moves into US mechanic services
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 push pointless product warranty
Stores are still pushing extended warranties despite a law change that should put a stop to the hard sell.

Editorial: Supermarket checkout temptations resistible
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?

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

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

Boy's tablet bill hits $1k
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.

Man stung by Trade Me rip-off
In May 2012, meatworker Graham Barker bought an iPhone for $1,110. It never arrived. Two years later, Barker is still smarting about being scammed.

Kiwis online shopping habits 'maturing'
New Zealand's online retail growth is slowing, despite increased growth from rural consumers, according to a BNZ report released this morning.

Ask Susan: $1 for written statement
Q: A month ago, I had $61.95 left to pay to clear my GE Gem account. I paid this, thinking it would be the end of it.

Asos website temporarily offline
An Asos warehouse the size of six football pitches has been badly damaged by a fire, forcing the fashion retailer to stop taking orders.

Consumer confidence rebounds
New Zealand consumer confidence rebounded from a six-month low in June, supported by a strong economy.

Consumer confidence slips
New Zealand consumer confidence fell in the second quarter as lower dairy prices and higher interest rates weighed on sentiment.

The tribes of Gen Y
The study by Colmar Brunton breaks the country's generation of 15- to 30-year-olds into six profiles, or "tribes".

Visa to replace signatures with PIN
Visa is to stop accepting signatures for its New Zealand-issued credit cards for most transactions from later this year in a bid to strengthen security.

Diana Clement: Watch out for hot sales to be in line for real bargains
Whatever your style or store preference, you can find a bargain if you're willing to put in some research before shopping, writes Diana Clement.

Quick tap and shopping's done
Remember that ad where Richie McCaw races around the shops in a suit, buying wedding presents and tapping his card on an eftpos terminal?

Councillors divided over sale of square
Auckland councillors are divided on the privatisation of Queen Elizabeth Square in downtown Auckland, but voted 14-7 today to approve in principle the disposal of the land worth upwards of $60 million to Precinct Properties.

City square could be sold
Auckland councillors will tomorrow consider the privatisation of Queen Elizabeth Square in downtown Auckland for a mall.