Spending in November rose by 25.7 per cent according to RetailNZ, off the back of strong Singles Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

And according to the RetailNZ Sales Index, total spending since March is now 3.4 per cent higher than the same nine months last year.

Greg Harford, RetailNZ chief executive, said the showing was particularly good when the impact of Covid-19 is taken into account.

“The strong result reflects increased consumer confidence, the fact that Kiwis are staying at home and not travelling overseas, and low interest rates which may be encouraging spending,” Harford said.

“However, performance is uneven across the sector and, while many businesses are performing well, a significant number of individual businesses are continuing to see their revenues lag well behind last year.”

Harford hopes customer confidence remains raised through the holiday period, and noted that the major challenges for the sector in then next few weeks will be managing supply chain and freight delays, as well as the ever-present risk of a further outbreak of Covid-19 and what that would do to business and consumer confidence and movement.

The index is an early indicator of performance in the retail sector, and measures sales by RetailNZ members who bank with Westpac.