A "slight" rise in spending last month was recorded by the country's largest processor of retail electronic transactions.
The $3.48 billion spent across the Paymark network during July was up 1.1 percent from a year earlier.
The rise was evidence perhaps of some economic green shoots emerging at the end of what had been a fairly static few months for spending, Paymark said today.
Footwear and liquor retailers were the biggest retail winners, with spending on footwear up 24 percent and liquor up 20 percent year-on-year in July.
At the other end of the spectrum, furniture spending was down 4 percent and spending on appliances was down 1 percent, Paymark said.
Spending at petrol stations was down 20 percent, with lower petrolprices a major factor behind low all-sector growth.
Paymark chief executive Simon Tong said the July spending data seemed to support comments about green shoots from some economists.
