Retail spending on Boxing Day 2025 fell by 12.4 per cent from the year prior, as overall activity across December declined.
Payment processor Worldline NZ has revealed its spending figures through December 2025, which show that Kiwis spent $4.7 billion across the month, a 0.2 per cent decrease on 2024.
But the company’s chief sales officer, Bruce Proffit, said the figures show a shift in shoppers’ behaviour.
“There was more spending at food and liquor stores in Worldline’s network across December, which is consistent with generally higher food prices and people prioritising the essentials in their budgets,” he said.
“The online spending processed through Worldline was up 18.9 per cent in December. This pattern is likely to be repeated among other online payments systems, judging by earlier reports and international patterns.”
With $51.2 million spent on Boxing Day across all non-food stores, Proffit said it fell behind fell behind Black Friday, which saw $55.6 million spent.
Throughout all of 2025, Worldline NZ’s payments reached $45.1B in expenditure, which is up 0.6 per cent on 2024. Worldline, however, said this was down to a 0.8 per cent increase in average transaction value.
“The annual figures point to a tough retail sector last year, with extra spending appearing to be largely the result of higher prices,” Proffit added.