Kiwis Said It With Jewels on Valentine's Day

Kiwis Said It With Jewels on Valentine's Day

It is one of the busiest days on the calendar for jewellery retailers, florists and restaurateurs around the country – so just how romantic are Kiwi guys and girls when it comes to Valentine’s Day spending?

More than $255,000 worth of electronic transactions was processed through the Paymark network via florists, and an additional $4 million through restaurants on February 14 alone, which fell on a Saturday this year.

Electronic spending at both florists and restaurants was down overall for the first two weeks of February (1-14 inclusive) by 21% and 10% respectively compared with 2008 figures.

Despite this it was jewellers who benefitted most this year, with Kiwis spending over $1 million at jewellery retailers across the network on 13 and 14 February alone. For the first two weeks of February (1-14 inclusive), spending via jewellery retailers was up 16 percent year on year.

Simon Tong, Paymark Chief Executive Officer, says; ”The fact that jewellery retailers were doing well while spending at florists and restaurants was down suggests that people took the opportunity to give their loved ones something more permanent this year.”

Paymark, arguably the world’s most advanced EFTPOS network, processes more than three quarters of all in store electronic transactions in New Zealand. That puts New Zealand ahead of any other country in the world in terms of EFTPOS use.

ENDS

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