September month sales boost quarterly figures

The value of seasonally adjusted total retail sales rose 0.8 percent ($133 million) in the September 2010 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today.

"This quarterly rise is mostly due to increased sales in the September month, particularly in furniture and floor coverings, and appliance retailing," business statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver said. "It's likely this reflects spending timed to beat the GST rise."

Both total and core retail sales (which excludes the four vehicle-related industries) increased in the September month, each up 1.6 percent.

For the quarter, supermarkets and grocery stores were up 1.5 percent ($57 million), the biggest contributor to the increase in the sales value. Appliance retailing was by far the main contributor to the increase in sales volume. Appliance retailing has been the largest single contributor to the rise in both total and core sales volumes in four of the past six quarters.

The volume and value of core retailing rose in the September 2010 quarter – both up 0.9 percent. The volume of total retailing was up 0.7 percent.

Auckland and Canterbury had the largest regional rises in the September quarter – both up 1.4 percent ($76 million and $29 million, respectively). However, in the September month, all regions showed robust growth, except for Canterbury, which recorded an increase of only 0.1 percent ($1 million). The Canterbury earthquake occurred on 4 September 2010.

 Highlights

For the September 2010 quarter compared with the June 2010 quarter (seasonally adjusted):

• Total retail sales value rose 0.8 percent ($133 million).
• Total retail sales volume rose 0.7 percent.
• Core retail sales value and volume both rose 0.9 percent.