Christmas shopping has given Wanganui retailers a shot in the arm, even if the dollars being spent are about on a par with December last year.
Paymark, which processes around three-quarters of electronic transactions in New Zealand, says spending in Wanganui stores is up 3.5 per cent in the first two weeks of this month.
In dollar terms, that translates to sales worth $20.7 million compared to the $20 million spent in the same period last year.
Mainstreet Wanganui marketing manager Elise Goodge told the Chronicle that, while some central city retailers enjoyed a sales surge last week, others said their businesses were still quiet compared to the pre-Christmas period in 2012.
"But really, since 2007, retail sales in the pre-Christmas period have remained fairly stagnant in Wanganui," Ms Goodge said.
She said online sales could be contributing to some of the retail flat-lining but could not be considered a prime reason.
"There are some in the central business district who are actually taking their businesses online, with some of those generating up to 10 per cent of their sales via the internet.
"That's likely to become a more common form of trading for them from now on," she said.
Ms Goodge said other positives could be seen in increasing numbers of tourists in the city.
"We're already seeing more of them in the city and these are the domestic tourists, the ones who may be here for a day or two but who spend across a range of services."
But she said Palmerston North continued to have a major influence on Wanganui's retail trading.
According to Paymark, the Manawatu centre recorded the country's highest rise in spending in the first fortnight of this month, with a 9.5 per cent increase on a year ago. That represents shoppers spending more than $73 million.
Ms Goodge said it was known that Wanganui people shopped in Palmerston North but there had also been a move by residents of rural towns such as Marton, Raetihi and Taihape to head there too.
"Palmerston North has done a big drive to attract out-of-towners there," she said.
"From Wanganui's point of view, it's a matter of us creating our own niche to attract shoppers and that's what we're looking at doing."
She said there had been plenty of pedestrians in the central city yesterday, probably drawn out by the fine weather and the fact most of the schools had finished for the year.
"We're really hoping our late-night shopping this Thursday will create another big shopping surge." Central city stores will stay open until 9pm.
Paymark said most spending had been on accommodation, restaurants and bars, and liquor retailing.