WELLINGTON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Retail spending in New Zealand remained subdued in October, falling 1 percent year on year as retailers faced challenging trading conditions ahead of the Christmas shopping season, industry data showed on Tuesday.
According to payment network operator Paymark, spending across Paymark's core retail merchants reached 3.682 billion NZ dollars (about 2.07 billion U.S. dollars) in October.
Spending on groceries and petrol remained higher than a year earlier, while most other retail categories recorded declines, Paymark Chief Sales Officer Bruce Proffit said in a statement.
"With the busy Christmas period approaching, retailers will be hoping that events such as Black Friday help bring more shoppers through their physical and digital doors," Proffit was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, spending through Online EFTPOS, which allows consumers to pay directly from their bank accounts without needing to use a debit or credit card, rose 6.8 percent year on year to 33.4 million NZ dollars in October, Paymark said, adding that he expected online spending to rise ahead of Black Friday and Christmas. ■
