The October 2011 Retail watch report has kindly been supplied by Datamine:

October 2011 was a positive month for retail in NZ, up 2.8% from September and increasing 4.9% compared to October 2010. There was strong year-on-year growth in sectors which haven’t had a lot of love lately including Clothing & Footwear (6.1%), Department Stores (4.2%), and Furniture/Appliances/Electronics (8.8%). This pulls all three categories around or over positive for the quarter ended October 2011 when compared to the quarter ended October 2010. Fuel & Service Station spending continues to be higher, this year up 15.7% from last year. Books & Stationery stores are still struggling (-9.4%), but overall things are looking reasonably healthy going into the Christmas season.

Regionally, every region had an increase in eating out except Gisborne. Clothing & Footwear was up 8.7% in the South Island, led by Christchurch (12.5%), compared to 5.3% in the North Island. Metro areas performed comparatively better than non-Metro areas. There were some big differences in Fuel & Service Stations spending, with only Southland having an increase that was below double digits (9.1%); Bay of Plenty led the increases at 23.6%. Furniture/Appliance/Homeware spending was all over the map… Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, and Marlborough all posted 20%+ gains whilst the West Coast, Taranaki, Nelson, and Northland were all negative. People invested in Health Goods & Services in Canterbury (up 10.3%) and Northland (up 19.5%) , but people in Nelson and Tasman posted double-digit declines.

Home Building Supplies were mostly flat except that stellar performance in Taranaki, Tasman, and Southland resulted in Non-Metro growth of 3.4%. Books & Stationery continue to be hammered, negative in every region of the country. Liquor sales were also broadly up across the country, especially in Taranaki, Nelson, and Canterbury – who perhaps enjoyed quite a bit of celebration after the All Blacks victory!  

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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