Card spending increases in most retail industries

Shopping using debit and credit cards in New Zealand increased during April 2013, Statistics New Zealand said today.

When adjusted for seasonal effects, the value of electronic card spending in the retail industries increased 0.6 percent in April.

"Spending rose in most retail industries during April, with durables and apparel having the largest rises," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said.

"This is a turnaround from March, when most retail industries had falls. Good Friday and Easter Sunday were in March this year, instead of April. This meant that there were two more trading days than during a typical April month."

The durables industry includes retailers dealing in furniture; hardware and appliances; and pharmacy, cosmetic, and toiletry items. The apparel industry includes retailers dealing in clothing, soft-goods, and footwear.

The largest increases were:

• durables, up $31 million (3.0 percent)
• apparel, up $19 million (7.2 percent).

 

The largest decreases were:

• consumables, down $26 million (1.7 percent)
• fuel, down $17 million (2.4 percent).

 

Spending for core retail (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) increased 1.0 percent in April 2013.

The total value of electronic card spending increased 1.1 percent in April 2013.

Trends for the total, retail, and core retail series all remain positive. For each series, the rate of increase has weakened in recent months.

In actual (unadjusted) terms, there were 107 million transactions in April 2013, with an average value of $52. The total amount spent across all transactions was $5.6 billion.