The cost-of-living crisis is putting a damper on some Kiwi’s Christmas, with a Westpac survey revealing 44% of people expect to spend less than last year.
Consisting of just over 1000 customer responses, the survey also revealed holiday accommodation, travel, gifts, and dining out are all on the list for cutbacks in spending, but the choices people are making about where to spend their money is leaving smaller businesses struggling.
Dane Ambler of Buy NZ Made said that liquidations are up 40% on the same time last year.
“Online retailers are seeing their highest rate of failure ever, it’s pretty bleak. It is a mixed bag though – there are some businesses surviving and thriving.”
He also said shopping local can bring down carbon emissions.
“Shop for longevity, shop for quality, shop for sustainability. Half of New Zealand’s emissions come from imports, so we can go a long way to bringing that down if we do support smaller local businesses.”
Worldline data shows that consumer spending during the first half of December was up just 2% on last year.
Dress Smart Centre manager Linh Luong said that it’s been a positive year despite the economic climate.
“We’ve been seeing quite strong growth in terms of customers visitation, for November we were up about 17% and Black Friday was up about 16.8% for the weekend.”
Where people are still spending money is at the supermarket, with around a third of us expecting to spend more on our groceries this Christmas.
Foodstuffs is predicting over six million transactions at their stores alone between now and Christmas.
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