Retailwatch October 2011

Welcome to Retailwatch for October 2011

To view the full report click here:

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%).

This pulls all three categories around or over positive for the quarter ended October 2011 when compared to the quarter ended October 2010.
Fuel & Service Station spending continues to be higher, this year up 15.7% from last year. Books & Stationery stores are still struggling (-9.4%), but overall things are looking reasonably healthy going into the Christmas season.

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 .

There were some big differences in Fuel & Service Stations spending, with only Southland having an increase that was below double digits (9.1%); Bay of Plenty led the increases at 23.6%. Furniture/Appliance/Homeware spending was all over the map... Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, and Marlborough all posted 20%+ gains whilst the West Coast, Taranaki, Nelson, and Northland were all negative. People invested in Health Goods & Services in Canterbury (up 10.3%) and Northland (up 19.5%) , but people in Nelson and Tasman posted double-digit declines.

Home Building Supplies were mostly flat except that stellar performance in Taranaki, Tasman, and Southland resulted in Non-Metro growth of 3.4%. Books & Stationery continue to be hammered, negative in every region of the country. Liquor sales were also broadly up across the country, especially in Taranaki, Nelson, and Canterbury - who perhaps enjoyed quite a bit of celebration after the All Blacks victory!

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.