August 2011 was overall much the same as August 2010, with an increase in retail spending of 0.5%, but down 5.1% from July’s numbers. The lone big increase in August spending (11.1%) was in the Fuel & Service Stations category, which should not be a surprise to anyone at this point, although spending is down slightly from July. Books & Stationery Stores continue to struggle, as does Recreation & Entertainment and Travel & Accommodation. There is some expectation that these numbers will be boosted in September with the beginning of the Rugby World Cup. Supermarket prices were pretty much flat, slowing the trend of increasing sales that has been going for some time.

Regionally, there was again mixed news compared to August of 2010. All of the regions had an increase in Cafe, Restaurant, and Bar spending, which is some welcomed news, and the leader was Auckland with a 5.6% increase. North Island supermarket spending dropped 0.8%, but South Island spending was up 4.4%. Spending on Recreation & Entertainment was down only 3% outside the cities, but down over 11% in Metro areas. The opposite was true with Clothing & Footwear, where spend was up 2.7% in Metro areas, but down 0.7% in Non-Metro areas.

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.

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