Despite the recession, or more likely because of it, shoppers spent more this Boxing Day than last.
The country's largest eftpos company, Paymark, says the value of recorded purchases on Friday 26 December was up 8.1% on the same day a year ago. That's $96 million worth of spending, or $7 million more.
At the peak of Boxing Day shopping, Paymark's Paul Whiston says, 69 transactions a second were being made.
He says two centres stood out, with the value of Auckland sales up by 10.2% and Wellington's by 15.4%.
Many shoppers took the opportunity to redeem gift vouchers at Boxing Day sales. There were even queues at some malls before the doors opened on Friday morning.
Cameron Brewer, of Auckland's Newmarket Business Association, says cash-strapped shoppers have been opting to buy gifts in the days after Christmas, to make the most of the post-Christmas sales.
Spending in December overall remains subdued, however, up by just 2.6% on a year ago.
With inflation and increasing card use, eftpos transactions recorded by Paymark have been rising by about 8% every year - until 2008. Monthly figures since May have shown just 3-5% growth on a year ago.
Thousands invest in equine stocks
Nor did the recession stop more than 20,000 people heading to Ellerslie racecourse for the Auckland Racing Club's Boxing Day meeting and spending an estimated $1.5 million on bets - a new record, if confirmed.
There were big turnouts and heavy betting, too, at Awapuni racecourse in Palmerston North and Wingatui racecourse in Dunedin.
