Lockdown hampers retail spending in Auckland and Northland

Thursday, 4 November 2021

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas are expected to have a big impact on retail spending, after a quiet October for Auckland and Northland.

Lockdown has continued to affect shoppers’ spending habits in October, according to data released by Worldline, formerly Paymark.

Spending through Worldline by core retail merchants in Auckland and Northland in October 2021 was 27.8 per cent below spending last October and 22.3 per cent below spending in October 2019.

But with retail set to open next week when Auckland moves to level 3 step 2, the city is poised for a deluge of pre-Christmas spending in November.

Worldline’s head of data, George Putnam, said the floodgates of Auckland consumer spending would open, judging by the trends seen in ;evel 2 regions.

* Spending focus shifts to fun in the weeks before Christmas

* Spending figures down for South Canterbury during Black Friday weekend

“After nearly 80 days in lockdown, Aucklanders will no doubt have long shopping lists on their fridges – not to mention dishevelled hair and fraying clothes – so will be readying to open their wallets to catch-up on nearly three months of limited spending options,” he said.

That would add to the traditional busy lead-up to Christmas across all regions, when retailers would typically see the volume of transactions picking up mid-November, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday looming.

“There will likely be an even more intense end to pre-Christmas trading on the Thursday and Friday before Christmas Day – all of which will no doubt be a welcome change for retail businesses and consumers alike.”

Meanwhile, annual growth amongst regional core retail merchants was highest in Wairarapa (+8.1 per cent) and Canterbury (+7.6 per cent), which are both in alert level 2.