Kiwis spent $139 million via the Paymark Eftpos network during Boxing Day - up 6.4% on last year.
Paymark, which process more than 75% of the country's electronic transactions, said when the food and hospitality purchases were taken out of the equation then spending was up by even more, growing by 8.3% on 2016.
Spending at department stores was up 67.9% on last year, while purchases at appliance stores was up 52.7%, and the spend at home decorating stores jumped 38.1%.
It was a mixed bag for clothing shops, down 5.1% in Auckland and Northland but up in Wanganui, Marlborough, Otago, Taranaki and Bay of Plenty, Paymark said.
Spending was up 3.7% in Auckland/Northland, 2.4% in Wellington and 10.4% in Canterbury.
The West Coast and Marlborough enjoyed the best growth, with spending up 25.7% and 24.4% respectively.