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With the end of 2011 just gone, it was clear that people celebrated the festive season a bit more than in 2010 – December spending was up 3.9% year-on-year at $2.86 billion, and up 17.1% over November 2011.

It was a very positive month for retail, with only the Books & Stationery Stores (-9.6%) and Recreation & Entertainment (-2.8%) down compared to 2010.
As expected, most categories were up substantially in comparison to the previous month of November; the lone exception being Travel & Accommodation….

So raise your bubbles to 2011, to infinity and beyond…

Pictures brought to you by  the Datamine’s Out of this World Christmas party held at the Star Dome,

One Tree Hill

Have a Happy Holiday and see you all in 2012

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There were no particular surprises in November’s retail spending, with all categories showing a small increase except Books & Stationery and Recreation & Entertainment, which continue to struggle compared to the same month last year. The only category up significantly against November 2010 is Fuel & Service Stations, which is of course no shock.

Furniture stores and Department stores have staged a bit of a comeback with positive year-on-year results and Cafes/Restaurants/Bars continue to show growth. Regionally, everywhere but Hawkes Bay had growth in Cafes/Restaurants/Bars spending, and everywhere but Nelson/Marlborough lost ground in Recreation & Entertainment. Nationally, Supermarket spend was up 1.8%, but this was not evenly spread as spending was up 4.1% in the South Island compared to 1.1% in the North Island.

Clothing & Footwear spend was mixed regionally; the only standout was Canterbury which had numbers over 10% higher than last November. Department Stores and Furniture, Appliances, & Home wares stores also did very well in Canterbury in a month where most other regions were around flat. Health Goods spending took a hammering in the Northland Region, but the rest of the country was generally positive…

There was a great turn out for a Monday evening, lots of stimulating drinks and so much food  I had to take a couple of bags home. Looks like we will be eating Ham for breakfast, lunch and tea at the signal box.

Thank you to Auckland for your very kind weather- it was actually warm! Too warm to stay indoors, so unfortunately our new WII station didn’t get much attention. I guess we will have to save that for the next party. Thank you to MA & DAN for giving us a fantastic opportunity to open a few more bottles of champagne  during the week.

For those of you who haven’t yet seen the signal box- here is a little taste…

And what is a party without a spot prize (I only wish I could have put my business card in the bowl)

Tracking the online Daily Deals for this month…

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October 2011 was a positive month for retail in NZ, up 2.8% from September and increasing 4.9% compared to October 2010. There was strong year-on-year growth in sectors which haven’t had a lot of love lately including Clothing & Footwear (6.1%), Department Stores (4.2%), and Furniture/Appliances/Electronics (8.8%)…

Regionally, every region had an increase in eating out except Gisborne. Clothing & Footwear was up 8.7% in the South Island, led by Christchurch (12.5%), compared to 5.3% in the North Island. Metro areas performed comparatively better than non-Metro areas …

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Total retail spend in New Zealand for the 28 days ending 28 September 2011 was $2,293.4 million. This represents an increase of 2.4% from the previous 28 days and an increase of 2.8% from the 28 days ending 28 September 2010. The All Blacks aren’t the only ones increasing in the World Cup with spending increasing from the same month last year in Fuel/Service Stations (16.1%) and Cafes/Restaurants/Bars (7%). Liquor spending was up 5% nationwide.

Books & Stationery stores continued their tough run, down 13.8%, and surprisingly Travel & Accommodation was down 5.4%. Against August 2011 spending, the big jump was in Home & Building Supplies which saw a 14.5% increase, although that’s only up 1.7% on last September.

Regionally, there were a few surprises in September 2011 when compared to September 2010. Cafe/Restaurant/Bar spending was up 11.7% in Canterbury and was positive in every region across the country. Recreation & Entertainment is finally showing some life in the South Island with an overall increase of 15.8% including 16.8% in Canterbury, 18% in Nelson, 14.5% in Otago, and 33.1% in Southland. Supermarket spending was up in every region in the country.

Canterbury also performed well in Clothing & Footwear with a 23% jump, although Department Stores were up only 2.8%. Fuel & Service Station spending was up big, with only Nelson (8.2%) recording an increase less than double digits. Furniture was hit hard, especially in Non-Metro areas (-12.9%). Liquor Store spending continues to be strong with significant growth in Canterbury, Marlborough, Taranaki, and Tasman (all over 10% increases).

If you would like a copy of the Metropolitan and Non-metropolitan reports, email: retailwatch@datamine.com

Retailwatch can be used to monitor trends in specific categories that are relevant to you while also building a broader picture of the overall retail environment.

The team at Datamine can also help you explore further the impacts of retail industry trends on your business.

If you have any questions or would like further information that would help support your business decision making needs, please don’t hesitate to call us.

Datamine can give you a window in to how popular they really are Check it out here and if you missed last month results page, you can access it through this link.