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. Get the dashboard and insights delivered straight to your inbox by signing up today.
Overall spend stagnated in June 2025, with minimal growth recorded. With rising food prices and a daunting job market, consumers buckled down in preparation for winter and pulled back on spending.
Although for some, winter is the perfect time to hit the slopes or chase the sun abroad - and with 73% of New Zealanders planning to travel overseas in 2025, it seems booking is already well underway as we see the Travel sector seeing a boost.
However, it’s debatable whether Kiwis are driven by their own sense of wanderlust or by the Travel sector’s whopping $252.65 million advertising spend.
As travel planning gets back on track, so does the healthy lifestyle movement. We’ve been tracking the upward trend in Health Goods and Services, and after a small hiatus over Easter, Kiwis seem to be back on the ball with gusto.
Is your R&D team looking to muscle in on this market? Get in touch to discuss deeper market share analysis for your business.
One data point that broke the trend is Online Domestic.
In previous months, Online Offshore had been steadily creeping upwards as savvy shoppers look for better prices abroad. However, in May 2025, online customers decided to look closer to home, with Online Domestic seeing a significant increase.
And while overseas retailers are still ahead in overall online spending, this is a win for local distributors.
Aside from a few sectors recording growth, May's report showed a plateau in spending. Businesses will need to utilise internal data alongside market share information to prepare for market shifts.
Don’t rely on gut feeling alone - accurately forecast demand so that you can capitalise on shifting preferences.
Our free dashboard helps you track major trends - perfect for Kiwi brands expanding their market share, or Australian companies eyeing New Zealand for growth. Complete the form below and keep an eye on your inbox for the latest dashboard view.
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.