Knowing how useful online shopping was during the original lockdown period, it would seem sensible to expect another wave of much increased online activity, according to the Bank of New Zealand’s Marketview report.

“New Zealanders look to have been out there supporting their local retail over the last couple of months with great fervour,” the BNZ stated. “As we now learn of another round of lockdown, it will be interesting to monitor the shifts in online behaviour.”

New Zealanders’ online spending was up 2.8 per cent over the same month last year. It was, however, the lowest monthly growth rate since February this year, which was incidentally the last full month before the government imposed Level 4 lockdown in March.

During the month of July, physical retailers have outpaced the growth in online spending by 9.9 per cent.

“That said, online spending is still solid, with the domestic online offering up 16.2 per cent compared to July 2019,” the BNZ said. 

When comparing July 2020 to June 2020, online spending was down 7.3 per cent. This is the second consecutive month where spend online has shown a decrease when compared to the previous month.

“In a way it’s not too surprising given the heights of online spending during the lockdown.”