Early bird shoppers grab festive deals
Shopping trolleys, baskets and bags are already brimming with festive presents, as New Zealanders get under way with their Christmas shopping.
Retail NZ general manager public affairs Greg Harford said Black Friday sales are growing in popularity, so naturally more people are shopping early to nab the bargains on offer.
Black Friday, the unofficial American shopping holiday following Thanksgiving, characterised by vicious scenes of shoppers scrambling for bargains, has caught on in New Zealand.
This is the fourth year The Warehouse has been offering Black Friday sales.
Harford said generally Christmas shopping starts in October and by December, shoppers are ‘‘full tilt’’.
Shopping early created a nicer environment for both customers and retailers, rather than the frantic, last minute shops that many Kiwis still manage to do each year, he said.
Christmas shopper Christina Cotton, from Palmerston North, says now is the best time to get Christmas shopping lists sorted.
The 18-year-old buys her family members’ presents in late November/ early December each year to avoid the crowds and make the most of early festive deals.
She said one of the worst things about Christmas shopping was the crowds.
‘‘I came on the day before Christmas last year, because I forgot about my uncle. It was horrible. It was so busy.’’
She had run into a store quickly to grab his gift, but had ended up waiting in line for about half an hour.
Cotton has started her Christmas shopping early this year and has already ticked off her sister’s gift.
‘‘It gets too busy and everything gets sold out. They seem to have massive Christmas sales on now.’’
She said she was on the lookout for deals and tried to avoid buying presents at full price.
‘‘It’s quite expensive. I have to save for ages just to buy presents for my family.’’
Kiwis spent about $21.8 billion online and in shops in the last quarter of 2015, including about $6.8b in December during the Christmas period.
Harford expected to see a lift in spending in 2016.
‘‘Although there may be some negative impacts from the earthquakes, which might depress spending in Wellington and the top of the South Island.’’
Matt Thomas, manager of the Celtic Inn in Palmerston North and Murray’s Irish Bar in Feilding, said Christmas time was a busy time of year for him as a pub owner. ‘‘We get a lot of work parties and new customers that we don’t see during the year. ‘‘It’s a vital time for our business.’’ He said the week before everyone went on holiday was the busiest.
‘‘Then there is always ‘mad Friday’, the Friday before Christmas, when we are run off our feet.’’
Chris Wilkinson, from First Retail Group, said the best time to shop was when consumers saw the products they wanted and felt they were at a competitive price.
He said sales were increasingly frequent and encouraged people to look out for patterns.
‘‘But don’t automatically assume the prices will keep coming down as we get closer to Christmas.’’
This year, some areas will be faced with limited availability of goods with freight challenges, so consumers in areas affected by quakes should be mindful, he said.
The Warehouse general manager operations Shane Cornelius said additional staff were brought on board to help at this busy time of year.
Popular gifts included homewares, summer outdoor accessories, books, DVDS and toys, he said.
Wilkinson also said gadgets and technology would continue to be popular this year.
A Kmart spokesperson said Christmas stock was now available in store and online.