Wellingtonians spend less at Boxing Day sales - but bargain hunters may be waiting for new stock

Monday, 28 December 2020

Wellingtonians spent less at the Boxing Day sales than last year, but an expert says bargain hunters may be waiting until more goods, disrupted by pandemic-induced supply chain issues, come into the country.

Retail spending, excluding food, drink and hospitality, was down 5.8 per cent on last year with Wellington shoppers splashing $6.3 million this Boxing Day, latest Paymark figures show. Last year, shoppers spent $6.7m.

Across the country, Boxing Day shoppers spent $62.2m – a 2.2 per cent drop on last year.

The South Island fared worse than the north. Sales in Marlborough were down 17.8 per cent – the biggest drop in the country, followed by the West Coast where sales were down 16.4 per cent.

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Auckland bucked the trend, spending $28.1m this year - a 0.7 per cent increase on last year.

First Retail managing director Chris Wilkinson said there had been a strong lead-up to Christmas across the country, which could have played a role in the Boxing Day figures.

But he predicted there is “quite a lot of delayed spending still out there”, as a result of supply chain issues.

Lockdowns around the world have left cargo stranded at ports while fewer passenger flights have reduced air freight, disrupting supply chains.

“There has been a challenge around supply chains. It was very difficult for retailers to have full stock,” he said.

“[shoppers] have held that spend until they are able to.”

But overall, consumer behaviour had shifted, Wilkinson said.

“People are not doing as much indiscriminate spending as they used to this Christmas. This year, people were much more particular in their purchasing,” he said.

“They were going into shops with clear knowledge of what they want.”

It was a trend Jeremy Taylor, the manager of Slow Boat Records on Cuba Sreet, had noticed.

“Next to none” passenger flights meant the shop was low on stocking-fillers, like Fleetwood Mac records, he said.

But shoppers were still coming in for a “curated experience”.

“I think people are generally quite grateful [they can shop],” he said.

The shop had been steady all through December, with Kiwi records were selling well.

“We have been really busy. We sold a tonne of Marlon Williams records. It has been a good year for New Zealand music.”

It had been a record-breaking period for Everyday Wine, co-owner Ashleigh Barrowman said.

The Cuba St wine shop, which has been open for 18 months, was much busier in the lead-up to Christmas than Barrowman anticipated.

“We are quite taken aback and pleasantly surprised,” she said.

PB Tech had queues of up to an hour on Boxing Day although sales were slightly down compared to last year, managing director Mark Shue said.

The Vivian Street shop, which lets 50 people in before running a one-in-one-out system, had queues of up to an hour on Boxing Day. Online sales had also been high, he said.

The store was bustling on Monday afternoon before closing its doors and turning away would-be shoppers at 4pm.

It had anticipated it would be busy, Shue said.

People were busy buying phones, laptops and computer monitors. Routers, headphones and gaming gear was also very popular.

“Everything that will update the home office,” Shue said. “Things that connect people to the world.”

Boxing Day spending was up more than 7 per cent on last year in Whanganui and Waikato. Hawke’s Bay spending dropped by 4.9 per cent.