A worrying trend for retailers - with shopping sales still lagging on last year

Data from Worldline shows Kiwis spent just over 3.2 billion dollars in December's first 21 days, about 1.3 percent down on the same time in 2024.

Spending last week was also down annually - for core products like clothes and electronics.

Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young says they were hoping to kick on from last month's great numbers.

She says she thinks people are forgetting Christmas is so close - and they should be out there buying.