Data shows people are spending more - but not on luxuries, Paymark says

4:55 pm today

Photo: Unsplash / Ardian Pranomo

We're spending more money - but not on luxuries, new data shows.

Paymark, formerly Worldline, data for May shows spending was higher than a year earlier but that was mostly because people were spending more with each transaction.

There was $3.853 billion in processed payments, up 1.2 percent on May 2025.

It follows a slight year-on-year fall in April.

Paymark chief sales officer Bruce Proffit said the underlying trend of inflation and retail shop closures were key factors that shaped spending habits.

"The retail merchant environment is always dynamic, with stores opening and closing, stores gaining and losing market share, and the average value of transactions rising in some stores in some regions and falling in others," he said.

"This churn always exists but the net effect that has stood out in recent months is further declines in the number of merchants across a mix of store types and a higher average transaction value in total."

The number of transactions was 1.1 percent below the same time a year earlier.

"While transaction numbers are down the spend, particularly in food, liquor and hospitality, is up. That's telling us that the inflationary pressures we've all seen coming have come to fruition and people are having to spend more on their groceries in particular.

"When we look at the split of spend, much less is being spent on homewares and clothing. All the growth is in food, fuel and liquor."

He said it was a continuation of a tough period for retailers.

"We started to see some really good indicators at the start of the year that 26 was going to be a better year. Then the Iran war started and unfortunately those fuel prices going up like they did, it just had a really bad impact on retail in general."

He said there was some good regional growth in places like Canterbury and Waikato which was probably due to Fonterra payouts flowing through to the economy.

"The biggest area, which is of course Auckland, there wasn't significant growth but it didn't go backwards in terms of transaction volumes ... I think we are really waiting to see whether or not the Iran war finishes and petrol prices start to come back to some sort of normality."

The annual growth rate was highest in Waikato, at 4.6 percent, and Canterbury at 2.8 percent.

Spending fell in Marlborough, down 6.4 percent, Wairarapa, down 1.7 percent and Gisborne, down 0.1 percent.

Proffit said Waikato's increase was likely due to population growth and farmers having more money to spend.

"They've done it tough for a long time and they've had some good news and are probably confident for a change, which is good to see."

The fastest growth in Canterbury occurred on the Sunday after the first concert at the new Te Kaha stadium, mostly due to more spending at food and beverage outlets.

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