The majority of Kiwi shoppers will be heading to the shops to browse and inspect items before making a purchasing decision, research conducted by MasterCard reports.

While online shopping is popular throughout the year, with 57 per cent of those surveyed making a purchase at least monthly, just 17 per cent will be doing Christmas shopping online.

Hitting the streets is a far more popular option, with 73 per cent of shoppers heading out to the bricks and mortar stores.

The top gifts bought at local retail stores were food and wine (89 per cent), homewares (83 per cent), and clothing, accessories and sports goods (76 per cent).

“Whilst many New Zealanders regularly shop online for themselves, or when they are looking for something specific – when it comes to finding the right gift for their children, friends and family, the findings suggest that the ability to drop into a store to browse and take a closer look at items is still hard to beat,” Peter Chisnall, MasterCard NZ country manager, said.

For those shopping online, local websites were the preference of 29 per cent of shoppers.

The gifts most likely to be bought online were books, DVDs and CDs (51 per cent), vouchers for goods and services (48 per cent), toys and games (35 per cent) and make up and fragrances (34 per cent).

The research was conducted online in 1020 New Zealanders aged 18 and above.