The BNZ online retail sales report shows that strong growth in purchases from offshore retailers is continuing.

Total online retail spending in July was up 13 per cent compared to July 2014 levels.

Spending at international sites is continuing to run at levels much higher than a year ago, with spending up 25 per cent on July last year. Part of this increase reflects higher prices due to falls in the New Zealand dollar.

The NZ dollar is down 24 per cent against the US dollar and 16 per cent against the UK pound, compared to July 2014.

The report shows that growth in online spending at local merchants dropped back into single digits in July, with sales up five per cent on the levels a year earlier. This is very similar to the growth in spending at physical stores, which was also around five per cent based on Statistics NZ figures for electronic card transactions for core retail industries, excluding hospitality.

Online spending in several categories was more than 20 per cent higher than their spending in July last year, including clothing, computer equipment, other specialised food (which includes supplements), books, entertainment, media and pharmaceuticals/cosmetics.