New Zealand’s total online retail spending in October was 8% higher than a year ago, with recent patterns continuing.
- Growth in spending at local online sites eased slightly but remained in double digits - up 13% on October last year.
- Very strong growth in Supermarket and Grocery stores, Department stores and Electrical/Electronic stores offset softer showings in several other categories.
- Clothing spending at local online stores was down 8% on last October.
- Spending growth at offshore sites showed a small increase in October, with online spending inching up 1% on October last year.
- Spending offshore in the Computer, Clothing and Electrical/Electronic store categories was lower than in last October.
- But strong spending increases in the Entertainment Media and Department store categories helped offset this.
- Annual online spending across the retail categories we cover* is running at just over $4.7 billion (excl GST). This is equivalent to 8% of total retail sales reported in Statistics NZ’s Retail Trade Series (RTS), comparing like-for-like categories. Excluding the Food and Liquor sectors from both the RTS and our Index, annual online spending is equivalent to 11.1% of retail sales.
- The upcoming November and December months could see some variance from the prevailing trends, as Christmas shopping starts to kick in and the scope of GST charges on online purchases widens from 1 December.