With just three shopping days left until Christmas, retail sales in Wanganui are mirroring the figures rung up on tills a year ago.
Figures from Paymark, which processes about 75 per cent of all electronic transactions across the country, show that from December 1 to 20, the value of spending in the city topped $29.5 million. That was just $100,000 behind the same three weeks in December last year.
However, the figures for last weekend (December 17-18) and the corresponding period in 2010, show retail spending is down 2.4 per cent. Last weekend, retail sales totalled $2.8 million in two days of trading, again a drop of $100,000.
The Chronicle called several city retail outlets yesterday and they reflected that spending pattern.
Darrell Smith, owner of Andersons men's and women's clothing store, said trade had been tracking "pretty much" the same as last year.
"It's really a case of business as usual for us this year.
"Of course we'd love it to be better, but that said, it hasn't been any worse than the last couple of Christmases," Mr Smith said.
Foot traffic through his Victoria Ave store had been about the same as previous years "but the next three trading days will be the telling point".
"However, we're pretty comfortable with the way things are tracking."
Cherry Novis, who runs Great New Zealand Gifts, said her store had been "very busy".
"I think a lot of people have left their buying to the last minute," Mrs Novis said.
It was noticeable that compared to past Christmases there was less traffic in Victoria Avenue and parking was not the issue it had been a few years ago. But she said there had been a shift in shopping trends as well.
"Courier drivers have been telling us their vans are chock full of parcels, which indicates to us anyway that more and more people are buying online."
Another retail store manager, who did not want to be identified, said this Christmas had been very good. "It shows that it isn't all doom and gloom out there," he said.
A Farmers Trading Co staff member said while foot traffic was not necessarily higher than usual, shoppers coming into the store were "prepared".
"It's obvious the customers are starting to gear up for Christmas with only a couple of days trading to go," she said.
"But what we've noticed is that a lot of people coming here to shop have come prepared. Many of them have lists and are buying specific items. It's like they're doing their homework rather than buying gifts randomly."
Heather Mitchell-Anyon, manager of Whitcoulls, said the mid-city bookstore had been "very busy" but she was not sure if that could be put down to the fine weather.
"We were just as busy a few days ago when it was raining," Ms Mitchell-Anyon said.
She had not had a chance to sit down to work out any comparisons with trading compared to last Christmas "but I can say people are definitely out and about shopping for gifts".
While books were popular, "games are very big this year".
Gary McElwain, owner of Aramoho Mags and Lotto, said Instant Kiwi tickets and special Lotto promotions continued to be
$29m says Wanganui's Christmas shoppers are no spent force
a popular Christmas stocking-filler.
"Probably for some people, they're not sure what to buy but for others the extra prizes on offer always attracts them," Mr McElwain said.
While the Wanganui retail takings appeared on a par with last year, Paymark spokesman Ben Robinson said retail spending had grown by 4.7 per cent across the country in the first 20 days of this month. Just under $3 billion was spent at shops around the country between December 1 and December 20 - an extra $133 million on the same period in 2010.
Palmerston North had the best growth, up 9 per cent ($8 million) year-on-year and South Canterbury, Southland and Auckland/Northland have also done well.
Mr Robinson said the growth in online shopping continued, with more people turning to the internet and overseas websites to make their purchases.