Published on the 21/01/2015 | Written by Beverley Head, Clare Coulson
Consumers in New Zealand rushed to the shops at the last possible minute in 2014 while Australians took a more sedate approach to the Christmas rush…
New Zealand’s Paymark electronic payments network recorded a 5.4 percent growth in December compared to the year earlier with $NZ5.3 billion of payments transiting the network. Christmas Eve proved Paymark’s biggest day on record with $NZ263.5 million of payments processed through the network – up 10.5 percent compared to 2013.
Paymark’s head of customer relations Mark Spicer said at the time: “Christmas Eve this year smashed all our records. Not only did we see the highest ever spending value through the network, we also saw the highest number of transactions at 4.8 million. During our busiest hour on Christmas Eve, traditionally 12 noon – 1pm, another record was broken when the number of transactions processed per second peaked at 156. This compares with 148 transactions per second in 2013.”
Growth in online retail, however, continued to be moderate across New Zealand and Australia in the run up to Christmas. In Australia the NAB’s online retail index showed there was a slowdown in November when sales contracted compared to October. Meanwhile eWAY, an Australian business which provides the electronic plumbing for many online retailers, said that in December Australians spent approximately $A1.56 billion online – up from $A1.53 billion in November, but down on October, when sales peaked for the year at $A1.57 billion. On Boxing Day Australians buying at the sales from home rooms spent $A35.8 million online in one day, up 17.4 percent on last year.
Matt Bullock, founder and CEO of eWAY, said that there had not been any “huge spikes or surges in spending or transaction numbers in the holiday period — not what you’d expect with all the hype and advertising. It was very steady”.
In contrast to Australians, Kiwis seem to like to leave their festive spending to the last minute – suggesting online wasn’t the big winner, as there would not have been time for goods to have been shipped before The Big Day. While there is no breakdown available from Paymark to indicate what percentage of payments reflected online purchasing, the Bank of New Zealand said that online spending in November rose five percent compared to November 2013 – described as only a moderate level of growth.
