Our big spenders went wild at Christmas
Taranaki and Auckland are the parts of New Zealand with the biggest Christmas spenders, new figures reveal.
Shoppers in Taranaki had the second biggest year-on-year increase in spending during December, paying out 29 per cent more in 2017 than in 2016, an average of $1165, according to information gleaned from Westpac CashNav app users.
Nationally, New Zealanders spent 14 per cent more in December than they did the year before, an average of $1118 each during the month.
But there were significant regional differences, and spending by people in Taranaki was still behind that of Auckland residents.
‘‘Aucklanders spent $1331 on average per person across December, taking in the lead up to Christmas as well as postChristmas sales, while at the other end, the Manawatu-Whanganui region spent $888.
‘‘That’s more than $440 difference, and while there will be differences in incomes, that’s still a saving for the people living there,’’ said Westpac NZ’s chief product officer Shane Howell.
Wellington came in third place, with an average spend in the month of $1121.
Eastern Bay of Plenty, which increased spending by the secondlargest amount, 26 per cent or $222, was followed by West Coast, which increased spending by 26 per cent or $196. Spending differed across the various age groups.
Nelson had the smallest spending increase at 7 per cent.
The Warehouse was the most popular place for December shopping. Kmart was second in regions where it has a presence, then Farmers and Briscoes.
It comes as new data from PriceSpy shows retail therapy continued through January.
Users of the site looked at board games 39 per cent more often this summer than they did last year. Lego also had a popularity surge, with clicks up 33 per cent, ahead of game consoles on 16 per cent and headphones at 29 per cent.
Westpac data shows...
❚ Aucklanders spent the most on shopping during December, with an average of $1331 per customer.
❚ 36- to 55-year-olds there spent ($1,856) twice as much as 18-to-35s ($924).
❚ Taranaki customers spent an average of $1165 on shopping during December – the second biggest spender behind Auckland
❚ Cantabrians spent an average of $1028 per customer on shopping during December – ranking ninth out of all regions, which is low considering the size of the region
❚ Almost 77 per cent of Cantabrians came out shopping in the week leading up to Christmas
❚ Bay of Plenty customers spent an average of $1094 on shopping during December in Eastern Bay of Plenty, $24 more than West Bay of Plenty ($1070).
❚ Gisborne customers spent an average of $970 on shopping during December – 9 per cent increase from December 2015.
❚ Hawke’s Bay customers spent an average of $1037 on shopping during December – ranking number eight in the country.
❚ Manawatu-Wanganui customers spent an average of $888 on shopping during December – the lowest spenders in the country and one of the smallest increases in the spend compared to last year (12 per cent or $96).
❚ Nelson customers spent an average of $892 per customer.
❚ Northland customers spent an average of $961 on shopping during December, which increased by 17 per cent compared to last year (+$142) – one of the largest increases in the country
❚ Otago customers spent an average of $1023 on shopping during December. This is a 13 per cent increase year-on-year – same as Auckland.