One sleep to Christmas fun
Last day of present shopping today expected to be the biggest and busiest for retailers
With one more sleep until Christmas, those planning a little last-minute shopping will need to get in quick on what is predicted to be the busiest day of the year.
Meanwhile, the weather forecast is starting to come into focus for Christmas Day and MetService predicting a “mixed bag” of sunshine and showers across the country tomorrow.
Last Friday was the biggest shopping day of the year so far, as Kiwis put $297.5 million through 5.1 million transactions, surpassing Easter Thursday ($263m) and Black Friday last month ($253m).
But Paymark spokesman Paul Brislen believed today would be even bigger.
“We expect to see Christmas Eve beat this as well, so you’re looking at sort of a $300m at least — looking at these figures.”
Brislen said it could be a little hard to judge when Christmas Eve fell close to the weekend — as it did last year, which resulted in it not being the busiest shopping day — but this year there was an extra day’s buffer.
There had also been a change in traditional shopping patterns in December due to the introduction of Black Friday sales.
“Traditionally during December week by week the sales would ramp up slowly till you got to the craziness of Christmas Eve which is the busiest shopping day of the year.
“[With Black Friday] we see a sudden spike at the end of November and beginning of December with the Black Friday weekend, and then a quieter period for the first couple weeks of December, and then back into it again as we get towards Christmas Eve,” Brislen said.
“[Black Friday] is becoming a very big part of the spending pattern for Christmas.”
As the tills ring, weather forecasters are looking ahead to what’s in store for Christmas and Boxing Day.
MetService is predicting a ‘mixed bag’ of sunshine and showers across the country for tomorrow.
According to MetService the leadup to Christmas Day is looking settled with only Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay set to see a rainy Christmas Eve, with heavy rain overnight about Wairoa.
Elsewhere, clear skies will dominate, with just the southeast of the South Island and central regions of the North Island will be looking to see isolated showers and cloud.
Christmas Day brings a “mixed bag” of weather with parts of the North Island and lower South Island set to see scattered showers, but plenty of dry weather expected elsewhere.
Auckland is forecast to see sunny spells with only a chance of a shower, and temperatures are on track to hit 23C, making it the warmest of the main centres, according to MetService. Wellington will be quite a bit behind with a forecast high of 18C, though southerlies should be light and skies clear.
Those celebrating in Taupo¯, Waikato, Waitomo and Taumarunui should think twice about a post-lunch walk to work off that Christmas feasting.
Heavy showers are forecast with thunderstorms and downpours possible in localised areas.
Cloud and cooler than average temperatures are forecast over the east of the South Island.
That could also mean donning those togs and heading into the water may be a less attractive prospect for those who are faint of heart.
Boxing Day is looking to be similar to Christmas with showers continuing over the central North Island.
The east of the South Island looks to finally break free of the cloud as the day progresses, even if isolated showers are likely to persist.