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New Zealand’s total online spending in November was up a modest +5% on the same month last year.
The growth rate for online spending at international online retailers eased back after a surge in October.
In last month’s report we suspected that the 28% leap in online purchases at international merchants (Oct 2014 vs Oct 2013) was partly driven by a pulling forward of spending that we would normally see in November, possibly due to factors like earlier release dates for new Apple products.
The November result supports this view.
Sales growth was still buoyant, but much less sprightly. Spending at international sites was up +11% on the level we saw in November last year.
Purchases of electronic goods at offshore sites in November were lower than in November last year, but were still strong. The combined total spending in this category for Oct + Nov was up nearly =40% on last year.
To smooth out the month-to-month volatility we can look at figures for the 3 months ended November. Kiwis’ online spending at offshore merchants over this period was up 18% on the same period last year – a very strong result. The softer NZ dollar (e.g. NZD/USD was down 3.5% compared to the November quarter last year) may mean offshore goods are costing a little more, but it doesn’t seem to be putting off online shoppers.
Online spending at domestic merchants was up +2% on last November - similar to the growth rate for physical stores.
That growth rate figure lifts to +4.5% if we exclude the shrinking "Daily deals" sector.
Results vary considerably across categories. For example, local online sales in areas such as housewares, electronic goods, toys and specialised food were all up by more than +20% on their levels in November last year.
November is the key month for Christmas shopping at offshore sites and December is the peak month for online shopping at local sites.
We are keen to see if the strength in Oct/Nov international online purchases is mirrored to some degree in domestic online sales in December. Anecdotal evidence suggests it might be.
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