Kiwis spent up large on food in December, discretionary goods not so much

Tuesday, 13 January 2026

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A round up of retail spending data from Worldline shows spending levels were down in December, with much less spent on discretionary goods than is typically seen across the busiest shopping month of the year.

Kiwis collectively spent $4.7 billion in December, which was down 0.2% when compared with spending in the same month a year earlier.

Spending on food purchases increased 4% through December, which Worldline NZ chief sales officer Bruce Proffit attributed to higher food prices and “people prioritising the essentials in their budgets”.

Increased spending at food and liquor merchants was up in line with the 4.4% food price inflation rate reported in November, meanwhile spending at core merchants across other categories were down 4.4%.

Boxing Day spending was also down this year, reaching a total of $51.2 million, 12.4% lower than spending levels recorded on the public holiday last year.

Higher spending levels were seen on Black Friday, November 28, when spending totalled $55.6m.

Boxing Day was a busier day for clothing merchants, but for most other retailers their busiest days were the two days before Christmas Day.

Proffit said the festive period figures pointed to a tough retailing environment both over the last year and the usually buoyant December month.

The data also showed more spending was conducted online through core retailers in Worldline’s payments network during the month, up 18.9%.

“Within the full month of December, the busiest days for food and liquor stores were in the days leading up to Christmas Day, while the busiest days for hospitality merchants were in the Saturdays of December,” said Proffit.

The busiest days for non-food merchants were mixed.

Spending levels increased the most in Whanganui, up 4.2%, followed by Otago, up 2.3%.

Spending declined most notably in Wellington, down 3.7%, and and Bay of Plenty down 2.6%.

Annual spending growth

Overall spending for the 12 months of 2025 saw transactions and sales lift 0.6% to a total of $45.1b.

Worldline said the lift in spending last year was due to higher average transaction values, likely attributable to price increases rather than more transactions, Proffit said.

Average transaction values were increased 0.8% to $42.64 per purchase.

Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said the December figures showed just how tough the trading environment continued to be for retail.

“Since 1 January we have seen two significant liquidation announcements from EB Games and Acecco Supermarkets, with just over 60 stores across the two businesses. The retail sector has been under significant strain over the last 2 to 3 years, with businesses advising that they have been absorbing as many cost increases as they can, working harder than ever as margins are being squeezed, which have created significant challenges for businesses to remain open,” Young said.

“We will be hoping for a brighter economy and positive consumer confidence in 2026,” she said, acknowledging that unemployment continued to be an issue, especially for graduates and young people looking for seasonal work.

“With discretionary spending down, it reinforces that consumer confidence is not yet back to where it needs to be, with consumers concerned about job security and the overall economic environment, it continues to dampen retail spend.”