Business: Region's spending lift small change

STEADY SALES: There has been only a marginal lift in spending and the number of electronic transactions people are putting through in our region.

Wanganui residents continue to be modest in their spending habits and, even allowing for election years being noted for faster economic growth, look like tracking along the same path and at the same rate.

Figures provided by the Paymark network for June show that there has been only a marginal lift in spending and the number of electronic transactions in our region.

Paymark processes 900 million transactions (worth over $45 billion) on behalf of more than 50 card issuers every year and its June data show there were 900,000 electronic transactions, which was 5.3 per cent up on the same month last year.

The value of transactions lifted to $36.6 million last month, about $1 million more than the same period in 2013.

Mark Spicer, head of customer relations at Paymark, said the Wanganui spend was typical of the mixed data across regions and sectors.

He said nationwide spending through the Paymark network in the 12 months to June this year was up 7.3 per cent.

This contrasts with growth rates experienced in 2012-13 and 2011-12, which both sat at 3.6 per cent.

He said while Canterbury had been leading the growth over the last three years, it had been matched by Auckland (17.6 per cent) and surpassed by Palmerston North (20 per cent), illustrating the wider nature of the recovery.

"But that said, spending in regions such as Wellington, Wanganui, and West Coast has struggled to increase in three years by as much as experienced in one year in the above regions," he said. "It is pleasing to see faster growth in the last 12 months, but the reality is that growth per merchant has been modest on average in the last three years and for some businesses, it has been below expectation."

Mr Spicer said sectors with above-average per-merchant spending growth included hardware stores and cafes/restaurants.

Spending in the automotive sector had climbed but higher petrol prices contributed to the increase.

Spending increased much less amongst clothing retailers, chemists and fruit produce retailers.

In June the growth rate had slowed but a late start to winter was thought to be a key factor.

Annual growth for the month remained strong amongst food and liquor stores and across the hospitality sector but there was a noticeable decline in spending (June versus June) in department stores, appliance retailers, clothing shops and footwear outlets.

"Weather often has a marked effect on the volume of payments through our network," Mr Spicer said.

"So as it gets colder, we'd expect to see an increase in spending at those outlets that provide appliances and services that keep us warm and dry."