Retail Trade

11 Apr 2011

Should retailers be concerned? Yes. The weak recovery has been halted by the recent Canterbury earthquakes, and consumer confidence has fallen. Retail spending as a proportion of overall private sector consumption expenditure continues to trend down. Nationally, retail sales turnover was essentially static in the December quarter, falling by a negligible 0.1 percent in seasonally adjusted »»

Retail sales begin to thaw

13 Oct 2009

The latest retail trade stats are somewhat of a warm relief to the recent chill weather. Seasonally adjusted sales rose by1.1 percent in the last month. But the cool conditions may have contributed to the pick-up in retail sales. Clothing and softgoods sales in August had the largest increase ($14 million, 6.6 percent) across the 24 industries that StatsNZ monitors. These statistics are being »»

Wary, but not weary, of credit as retail sales remain weak

15 Sep 2009

Electronic card transactions (ECTs) are a lead indicator of spending behaviour. The latest ECT data are another sign that New Zealand consumers are wary of credit, but are not entirely averse to it. Credit card use continued the downward trend of the past two years, dipping to 45.8% of transactions in the year to August 2009. But given the value of seasonally adjusted retail sales has been static »»

Retail sales break recent records, but sales growth still weak

17 Aug 2009

The June quarter saw the first rise in quarterly sales since the March 2008 quarter, climbing by 1.1 percent ($174 million). Retail sales volumes also rose, by 0.4 percent (approximately $56 million in 2009 dollar terms). This is the first quarterly increase in retail sales volumes since September 2007. However, this rise comes after a record 2.7 percent fall in the March 2009 quarter. As such, »»

Retail and tourism face bleak times

29 Apr 2009

Latest data confirms further gloom for those dependent on the spending patterns of New Zealanders and visitors. After many years of credit-fuelled expansion, retail spending for the year to February 2009 slumped to be 0.6 percent below that of the previous year. The last time this measure was in negative territory was April 1998. Reinforcing the gloom is the result for total retail sales »»

Auckland and Waikato retailers hit hardest by recession

05 May 2009

The impacts of the global financial crisis include not only tangible impacts on New Zealand such as lower exports and reduced employment opportunities, but also impacts on consumer sentiment. Most media paint a picture of widespread downturn, negative business sentiment, and worried householders and consumers. But the December 2008 quarter and January 2009 monthly statistics suggest this »»

Retail sector subdued in June quarter

15 Aug 2008

You might think you’re at an auction with the latest retail trade stats – Going… going… ? The retail sector was subdued in the last quarter. Although quarterly sales were higher than a year ago (2.2 percent), the quarter-on-quarter statistics show a slow down: seasonally adjusted sales fell by 0.2 percent. The slowdown is widespread, as although 18 of the 24 retail industries increased sales between the March »»

Whats that sucking sound? Probably the gas tank slurping at your wallet

15 Jul 2008

While statistics aren’t most people’s cup of tea, there’s a reason why most people won’t like the latest retail and inflation numbers out from StatsNZ. Sales in those retail industries where most discretionary spending goes have seen falls over the last quarter. This includes lower (seasonally adjusted) sales for the three months to May 2008 in industries such as furniture and floor coverings (-17.9 percent), »»

Retail sales - a tailwind or a headwind?

04 Feb 2008

The latest retail data released by Statistics New Zealand show a positive picture for the year as a whole, but a mixed picture for growth in the latest few months. Three quarters of the core retail sales industries increased their sales between October and November. Sales in all four motor vehicle industries expanded. Automotive fuel sales climbed by 5.4 percent over the last month, and compared to December a year ago this »»

Retail trade activity slowing – but ever so slowly
Retail sales growth has continued
Retail trade softens in July '07
Retail trade sales strong but slowing in August '07

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