Despite the doom and gloom in the retail industry, the value of electronic card transactions (ECT) was up in October, latest statisticis reveal.
There were 90 million electronic transactions in October worth $4.8 billion up 0.5 percent on September, after adjusting for seasonal effects, according to Statistics New Zealand.
This follows an increase of 0.8 percent the previous month.
The seasonally adjusted figure for the value of retail ECT was also up 0.5 percent after a flat September month.
The durables, consumables and apparel industries experienced the largest increases, while fuel retailing was the only industry to record a decrease.
The seasonally adjusted core retail figure (which excludes motor vehicle-related industries) increased 1 percent in October, following a decrease of 0.3 percent in September.