While spending at supermarkets and pharmacies has been rising steadily over the last week, yesterday’s announcement of a shutdown of non-essential services drove shoppers into these stores in massive numbers. 

Data released by Paymark shows that Monday saw spending at supermarkets rise 157 per cent on the same day of 2019, bringing in a total of $111 million. 

Pharmacies also saw increased demand with spending up 122 per cent, while accommodation fell 59 per cent and restaurants, cafes and bars fell 44 per cent. 

For the week ending Sunday 22nd, spending rose 7.5 per cent to $1.3 billion. Large jumps were observed in food and liquor and pharmacy spending of 51.8 per cent and 81 per cent respectively, specifically taking off on the Friday.

Clothing and footwear stores were down 29 per cent on last year, while hardware stores were up 16 per cent, as Kiwis prepared to hunker down at home for the foreseeable future.

Average transaction size grew 9.2 per cent year-on-year to $49.23, likely a result of customers bulk buying to stock up on essentials and medicine.

It can be expected that these numbers will vary wildly next week as certain segments of the retail industry are affected by the lockdown.