Dec 2025: $6.5 billion in total spend as consumer confidence reaches 4-year high
New Zealand's monthly retail spending DASHBOARD
Early each month we release our Retailwatch dashboard that offers a high-level view of retail trends showing customer spend across categories, online and in-store, of the previous month. Get the dashboard and insights delivered straight to your inbox by signing up today.
Retailwatch DECEMBER 2025 analysis
After a challenging year, 2025 ended with positive news for retailers. Kiwis dipped into their pockets, reaching the $6.5 billion mark for total retail spend in December. All categories experienced an increase in online spend year-on-year; perhaps a growing number of Kiwis prefer to avoid the crowded malls and complete their Christmas shopping from home.
Additionally, business confidence has hit a 30-year high1 while consumer confidence reached a 4-year high2. Are we seeing the light at the end of the inflation tunnel?
For more, check out the Retailwatch dashboard for a high-level view of New Zealand retail spend this month.
Christmas Grill-flation
Kiwis broke through the $2 billion ceiling for Supermarkets and Other Food in December. They favoured online deliveries and deals, with an 18.7% increase in online spend year-on-year.
While there have been signs of some food prices easing3, the higher cost to put on a Christmas BBQ (or “Grill-flation”4) may still have influenced purchase decisions for many. Red meat prices rose in the latter months of 20255, including Kiwi favourite roast lamb, of which the average retail price shot up to a record high6.
Are the travel tides turning?
The Travel and Accommodation sector experienced a 9.4% year-on-year increase. It seems more Kiwis are out and about on road trips, weekend getaways, or booking their well-deserved holidays for 2026. This paired with an increase in overseas tourists – including a record number of Aussies7 – bodes well for NZ’s travel industry and parallel sectors.
The bustle of activity and spend also flowed into Recreation and Entertainment and Cafes Restaurants and Bars, which showed a 6.4% and 2.3% increase year-on-year respectively. Kiwis have grown more and more confident spending on entertainment – a trend we've tracked throughout 2025. Major events across the country helped boost these numbers, such as the premiere of Avatar: Fire and Ash and the Black Caps cricket test8 in Wellington.
Is your company seeing the windfall? If not, it’s time to look deeper into your data in 2026. We’ll help you understand your market share, competitors, customer segments and share of wallet so you can make data-driven decisions that lead to growth.
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Sources:
1 Business confidence rises to 30-year high | RNZ News
2 Consumer confidence reaches highest level in four years | RNZ News
3 Food prices show signs of easing but 4.4% higher than a year ago | RNZ News
4 More signs the NZ economy is turning – but risks remain - Newsroom
5 Why Christmas barbecues likely to be a 'pretty expensive endeavour' | RNZ News
6 'Shop around': Lamb popular Christmas choice, but prices are up | RNZ News
7 Tourism numbers up in October, record from Australia - NZ Herald
8 Wellington braces for influx of visitors for 'Avatar' premiere, cricket
WHERE DOES THE RETAILWATCH DATA COME FROM?
Retailwatch is a joint initiative between Datamine and a Banking and Financial partner. This partner provides Datamine with anonymised and aggregated retail spend data; we apply algorithms and national / regional weightings in order to create the report. Retailer categories are taken from the Merchant Category Codes allocated by MasterCard and VISA. Monthly and Quarterly periods of 28 days and 91 days are used to ensure the same number of weekdays/weekends are included for comparisons.
Please note that the figures within the Retailwatch Dashboard are GST exclusive.
