Spending through Paymark among the food and beverage services group reached $743.6 million, down 5.4% or $42m on June last year.<\/p>\n
Accommodation merchants faced a steeper decline, with spending falling 20.1% in underlying terms to $53.5m.<\/p>\n
Merchants in hospitality and retail weren\u2019t alone, with spending from core retail groups such as clothing\/footwear and recreational goods falling compared with June 2025.<\/p>\n
It was a similar story in the non-retail sector, with spending for the month through Paymark\u2019s network at fitness centres and gyms down 23.7% (down 14.3% for the year ending June).<\/p>\n
Spending at beauty and hairdressing salons was also down, falling 1.8%, while movie theatre spending was down 4.9%.<\/p>\n
On a regional basis, annual growth rates for core retail spending in June 2026 were highest in Waikato, up 1.4%, Hawke\u2019s Bay, up 1.2% and the West Coast, up 0.9%.<\/p>\n
Proffit said continued spending growth in the Waikato region, as seen in recent months, was more of a \u201cmixed bag\u201d in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe largest contribution to spending growth in the Waikato in June was higher spending at food and liquor shops, resulting from more transactions. However, there was also a smaller increase during the week ending Sunday June 14, which included Fieldays.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that during the week of Fieldays about $1m more spending was recorded, spread over hardware\/furniture and food service merchants.<\/p>\n
\u201cApart from those sectors, there were spending declines reported over the month for most non-food merchant groups in Waikato.\u201d<\/p>\n
The largest spending declines in June were recorded in Marlborough, down 6.2%, Bay of Plenty, down 3.2%, and Wairarapa, down 2.7%.<\/p>\n
In the major centres, spending was mixed, with spending falling in Auckland\/Northland by 0.4%, Wellington down by 1.6%, while Canterbury reported annual spending growth of 0.2%.<\/p>\n