300,000 burgers in 24 hours
New Zealanders ate their way through five-weeks’ worth of takeaways during the first week of level 3, according to an economist from ASB.
Fast food restaurants nationwide were overwhelmed with demand for takeaways when the country moved from level four to level three on April 28.
ASB senior economist Jane Turner said it was unprecedented to have fast food closed for a fiveweek stretch, leading to pent-up demand from consumers.
In the first 24 hours of level three, McDonald’s sold 300,000 burgers, and doubled the sales of the same day last year.
‘‘To see such a strong bounce in sales from pent-up demand signals some hope for many businesses grappling with the devastating impact of remaining closed as NZ fights to eliminate Covid-19,’’ Turner said.
Turner believed other businesses would also benefit from a bounce when the country opened further.
‘‘There will be some businesses that will see a similar pattern, I am sure there will be a huge queue for hairdressers. They will be having to manage six weeks of catch-up as well.’’
There would be demand for the ‘‘creature comforts’’ as the country moved to level two and level one, Turner said.
‘‘I think, where we won’t necessarily see pent-up demand is for things like brand-new cars and planned renovations, and we will see a weaker housing market out if this, because people are looking at the longer-term uncertainty.’’
She expected people would splurge on small items but bigticket items wouldn’t necessarily see the bounce back.
ANZ consumer confidence plunged to a new record low in April, with confidence below levels seen during the 2008/09 global financial crisis.
‘‘In contrast to business confidence, which we expect to start to improve in May as lockdown restrictions were eased, the worst may still be yet to come for consumer confidence,’’ Turner said.
‘‘What we did see in the GFC is that people’s preferences began to shift. People might not go out to dine, because it’s quite expensive, but they might spend a little more at home.’’
Spending patterns changed during large economic shocks and that was what was expected in the coming months, Turner said.
‘‘The bottom line is tough times are still coming,’’ she said.