Canterbury businesses boost national growth rate

Media Release

Date: 5-May-11

Canterbury businesses boost national growth rate

74.8 million transactions were processed through Paymark’s network during April, pushing the national growth rate up 5.3 per cent year on year and above the 4.5 per cent average of the previous two months. The increase can largely be attributed to a number of Cantabrian businesses returning to trade.

Paymark Head of Sales and Marketing, Paul Whiston, says that the trend upwards during April has definitely been affected by a pick-up in Canterbury’s spending as well as other factors such as growth in the clothing and footwear sectors.

“Annual change in transaction volumes in the Canterbury region has been - 6.4 per cent, - 11.9 per cent and - 2.1 per cent respectively in February, March and April. The improvement between March and April was a major contributor to the faster national spending growth in April, though clearly spending is still constrained.

“Adding to the picture of modest growth in April is a pick-up in sales across the clothing and footwear sectors. This trend is noticeable at the change of seasons with people ensuring they are prepared for the coming weather,” he adds.

John Albertson, CEO of the New Zealand Retailers Association, was not surprised with the improvement in the volume of transactions.

“The start of the colder seasons appears to have been strong throughout April and this was reflected in the clothing and footwear figures. Anecdotally, we are getting reports of signs of improvement across the sector and these numbers would support this. It is also great to see the improving picture for Christchurch,” says Albertson.

The busiest day of the month – and the busiest trading day so far this year – was Thursday 21st, traditionally when people stock up for the long weekend. The 3.38 million transactions on the day represented a total spend of $184 million.

Easter, which is traditionally a time of more subdued spending, was even more so this year with ANZAC Day falling on Easter Monday and with continued constraints on Canterbury trading.

The number of transactions over the Thursday to Monday period was 13.8 per cent below the same weekdays during the previous two weeks, and down 0.7 per cent on the same period during Easter 2010. Within these totals there are noticeable contrasts such as Marlborough being up 7.4 per cent from the previous two Thursday - Monday ‘weekends’, versus a 22.4 per cent decline in Wellington.

Over the whole month, the value of transactions increased 6.3 per cent during April 2010 to reach $3.7 billion. The regions reporting the fastest annual spending growth were South Canterbury (+11.2 per cent), Southland (+9.9 per cent) and Auckland/Northland (+8.4 per cent), while the value of spending in Canterbury (+0.1 per cent) inched above the April 2010 total.

The annual spending increase in footwear and clothing outlets amounted to 9.5 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively.

PAYMARK Regional Data (April 2011 versus same month 2010)
/ Volume (million transactions) / / Value of spending ($millions)
Region / Last Year / Current Year / Volume Difference / / Last Year / Current Year / Value Difference
Auckland/Northland / 27.21 / 29.37 / / 7.9% / $1,332.5 / $1,444.4 / 8.4%
Waikato / 5.35 / 5.64 / / 5.3% / $252.3 / $271.2 / 7.5%
BOP / 4.58 / 4.83 / / 5.5% / $227.5 / $242.4 / 6.6%
Gisborne / 0.69 / 0.71 / / 3.5% / $31.2 / $33.2 / 6.5%
Taranaki/Taupo / 1.76 / 1.85 / / 4.9% / $81.1 / $87.3 / 7.6%
Hawkes Bay / 2.11 / 2.12 / / 0.6% / $101.0 / $102.7 / 1.7%
Wanganui / 0.83 / 0.87 / / 4.2% / $36.9 / $38.4 / 4.1%
Palmerston North / 2.34 / 2.38 / / 1.9% / $110.4 / $118.0 / 6.9%
Wairarapa / 0.69 / 0.73 / / 6.3% / $32.9 / $35.1 / 6.7%
Wellington / 7.92 / 8.34 / / 5.3% / $358.9 / $381.6 / 6.3%
Nelson / 1.36 / 1.45 / / 6.4% / $68.5 / $72.3 / 5.5%
Marlborough / 0.87 / 0.85 / / -1.5% / $43.8 / $44.0 / 0.4%
West Coast / 0.54 / 0.54 / / 0.9% / $29.8 / $30.5 / 2.2%
Canterbury / 8.23 / 8.05 / / -2.1% / $404.7 / $405.1 / 0.1%
South Canterbury / 1.09 / 1.17 / / 7.8% / $58.2 / $64.7 / 11.2%
Otago / 3.91 / 4.16 / / 6.4% / $192.2 / $204.1 / 6.2%
Southland / 1.59 / 1.72 / / 8.1% / $83.8 / $92.1 / 9.9%
New Zealand / 71.06 / 74.80 / / 5.3% / $3,485.4 / $3,706.7 / 6.3%
(growth rate this time last year) / / / 5.5% / / 3.6%

ENDS

About Paymark:
In November 2009, Paymark celebrated a significant business, retail, and economic milestone with the celebration of its 20th birthday. Since its inception in 1989 when three banks came together to form Electronic Transaction Services Limited (now known as Paymark Limited), Paymark has grown to become an integral part of New Zealand’s economic landscape with arguably the best EFTPOS system in the world.
Quick facts:
- By March 1990 volumes through the network exceeded 1 million transactions a month
- In 1994 the company increased its computer processing power to accommodate volumes exceeding 10 million transactions a month
- 28 August 1996, Paymark makes history by installing an off-shore EFTPOS terminal at a general store, Scott Base, Antarctica
- In 1998 Paymark passed another milestone as the 1 billionth EFTPOS transaction was processed
- More than 73,000 merchants and 100,000 terminals are currently connected to the network that is now 3DES and EMV compliant. Today, the Paymark network processes over 75% of all electronic transactions in the New Zealand retail market on behalf of more than 50 card issuers and acquirers.

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