According to the BNZ MarketView Consumer Spending Series, retail spending was up 4.75 per cent in the first week of school holidays ending July 12. This is a pretty good result overall but down slightly on spending that was up 5.22 per cent against the same 30 days ending July 12 in 2014.

Store types with the largest rises in spending in this week were: takeaways at 11.8 per cent; bars, cafes and restaurants at 9.5 per cent; and department stores at 5.6 per cent.

Whether it is food, clothing, electronics and almost anything in between, there is a good chance that consumers are getting pretty good deals on retail. Statistics New Zealand released its consumer price index and food price index which tracks the trends in prices of consumer goods. And the results revealed that prices in a lot of industries have either dropped or stayed flat.

One of the more notable results is that grocery spend has dropped 2.1 per cent overall for the year ending June. It certainly appears as though consumers are stocking up while prices are low as spending figures show spending in the industry is up 2.6 per cent over the same period while transaction volumes are up four per cent.

The higher transaction numbers potentially suggest a move towards top-up purchases (cashing in on promotions) over  big bulk purchases.

Most supermarkets now feature the tap-and-go payment terminals, adding to consumers ease of a quick top-up purchase. Many smaller independent retailers cannot afford this luxury and now face an unwanted dilemma over whether to keep up with the times and potentially pass these costs onto their consumers or stick with the old technology, potentially inhibiting sales.