Big ticket items remaining in shops

Electronic transactions company Paymark says transaction volumes up 5% on last year but people not spending as much

23 December 2008
People are shying away from buying big ticket items for Christmas.

Electronic transactions company Paymark says transaction volumes are up five percent on last year, but spokesman Paul Whiston says the value of the transactions are down, indicating that people are not spending as much as usual.

He says with only a couple of shopping days before Christmas, spending is down by just over $1.2 billion on last year. Mr Whiston says while there may be a ramp up in sales over the next two days, it is unlikely to reach the same levels as previous years.

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