Boxing Day sales nationwide were down this year — however, in Otago it was a different story.
Payment network Worldline has released its results for annual regional spending growth for Boxing Day, and Otago reached the No 1 spot nationwide for the biggest growth at 9.4%.
The Craic Irish Tavern owner Claire Grenfell credited the milestone to the large number of cruise ship passengers in the city on Boxing Day.
"Usually, we have quite a lot of cruise ships in for the day. It was busy — really busy — but it wasn’t chaos.
"It was a very good thing — let’s hope it lasts."
CBK Craft Bar & Kitchen manager Tayla MacDonald had similar things to say about booming business on Boxing Day.
"It was busier than graduation. We always had people in getting food and drinks.
"It’s pretty cool being No 1 in the country, especially since how quiet hospitality has been since Covid."
First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said shopping in the city had a boost from a double cruise day, more than 6000 passengers and crew having come ashore during the day.
"Many retailers recognised the opportunity and opened especially, which would have helped in that increase.
"Queenstown is also very busy this year, while Wānaka has large new retailers, including The Warehouse, Noel Leeming and Mountain Warehouse, that have opened recently and will have helped drive spending growth."
For the first 21 days of December, Otago was holding strong, recording one of the largest upturns compared with 2022, with a 6.9% increase in spending.
This was second only to Whanganui, which had a 10.5% rise in the period.
Worldline NZ chief of sales Bruce Proffit said the busiest day for shoppers nationally this year was December 22.
Nationwide the growth was slightly lower than 2022, falling 0.6% compared with 2022 figures.
The biggest drop in regional spending for Boxing Day was in Wellington, where sales fell 10.8% compared with the previous year.
Mr Proffit said the drop in spending would be disappointing for retailers around the country, but it was in line with the overall trend seen over the past six months.
The peak transaction minute on Boxing Day was at 12.34pm, when 6074 payments were processed through the network.
The official and final figures for 2023 will come out after the first week of January.
Worldline is the second-largest payment network in the country.
