24 May 2022

Online shopping spending up 31 percent from last year

4:09 pm on 24 May 2022

The popularity of online shopping has continued to grow over the first few months of the year and some experts believe it is here to stay.

Hands holding credit card and using laptop. Online shopping

Photo: 123rf

The latest New Zealand Post e-commerce spotlight report shows online shopping spending is up by 31 percent from last year, for the first quarter.

New Zealanders spent more than $2.2 billion online on physical goods during this period.

New Zealand Post's Chris Wong said Covid-19 had a significant impact on people's spending habits.

"The last couple of years have been a pretty unpredictable turbulent time and even over the last three months as we have navigated Omicron and we're still seeing Kiwis embrace online shopping.

"With the latest insights we've looked at we've seen across the board generally... spending more and buying more often."

Wong said online spend for the over 75 age group grew by 40 percent, which showed older age groups were becoming more comfortable shopping online.

"It's important to note, however, they are a smaller group and they represent about 3 percent of the total online spend," he told Midday Report.