Retail NZ said spending data on electronic cards has provided relief for businesses at a time when it is needed the most.
The latest electronic card spending data from Stats NZ comes as a much-needed boost for businesses heading into uncertain economic times, said Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young.
"Actual electronic card transactions for February were up 2.4 percent year-on-year across core retail as a whole, a further improvement to the 1.1 percent rise seen last month. With almost all sectors experiencing a rise in spending, this will be seen as a big win for retail, after going through several months of ups and downs last year,” Young said.
“While durables saw a slight decline, down 0.1 percent, consumables, hospitality and apparel all had a decent boost in spend, which is exactly what the retail sector needs after a bumpy end to 2025. The 2.1 percent increase for apparel will be particularly encouraging to those businesses, with that sector experiencing a consistent downward trend in card spending right throughout 2025.”
However, she said, while the rises for consumables (3.1 percent) and hospitality (3.8 percent) were at or above the current rate of inflation, the overall 2.4 percent increase for actual core retail transactions is still slightly behind that 3.1 percent inflation figure.
“That should not take away from the good news behind this data, but it does illustrate that there is still further improvement needed before businesses can be confident the caution shoppers have been showing in their spending is, in fact, easing.”
Young noted that the conflict in Iran will also be making businesses nervous, with the steep rises in fuel likely to directly impact the amount of discretionary spending households can afford. Adding to those nerves will be another increase in the amount of credit card transactions, with a massive 71 percent of spending on credit cards, compared with 29 percent on debit cards.
“So while these figures will put a smile on faces, businesses will remain cautious about what might be in store for them over the next few months."
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