Slowing growth in online retail sales – again
· Total online spending in June 2014 was up 5% on June last year.
· Spending at domestic online sites is up by 2% on the online spending in June last year. Excluding the “daily sales” sector, domestic online sales are up 6% on June last year.
· Online purchases from offshore merchants are 9% higher than June 2013.
· It appears that appreciation in the NZD is masking some of the underlying strength in purchases from overseas online sites. The growth in transaction volumes for offshore purchases has clearly outpaced the growth in spending, particularly over the past year. Offshore transaction volumes (excluding entertainment media) for the 3 months ended June 2014 are up 24% on the same period a year ago.
