Latest figures on retail spending show shoppers put away their wallets in February.
Statistics New Zealand says retail spending fell a seasonally-adjusted 0.6% during the month.
Radio New Zealand's economics correspondent says big ticket items experienced the largest drop, with car purchases down after two months of rises.
Once motor vehicle-related spending is excluded, spending fell 0.9% in February.
Lower food prices exacerbated the underlying weakness in consumer demand during the month.
The report follows separate figures for spending using electronic cards for March issued on Tuesday. Those showed the biggest monthly increase in two years.
But economists say consumer demand remains patchy, and warned against reading too much into the March figures.
Goldman Sachs JB Were's Philip Borkin says people could be spending now to beat a hike in GST.