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Carolyn Young: Retail NZ CEO on increasing business optimism despite economic challenges · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk zed B.
• 0:12
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: You want some more than news, I got some. Here
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  Speaker 2: we go from our light at the end of the
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  Speaker 2: tunnel file. We found renewed confidence in the retail sector,
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  Speaker 2: if you can believe it. June numbers say nearly seventy
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  Speaker 2: percent think they're going to make it through to next year.
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  Speaker 2: That's up from fifty seven, so that's a material increase.
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  Speaker 2: Carolyn Young is, of course, the Retail New Zealand chief executive,
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  Speaker 2: and she's with there's Carolyn morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Mike, thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 2: Not at all. Sixty two percent missed their sales target.
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  Speaker 2: See I always think that's weird. If you set your
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  Speaker 2: sales target all wrong in Wonky, of course you're going
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  Speaker 2: to miss it. I mean, it depends what you set
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  Speaker 2: it at it, don't you.
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  Speaker 3: Well, obviously you're setting your sales target at the stock
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  Speaker 3: that you're purchasing, so you're purchasing stock on the expectation
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  Speaker 3: that you'll sell us. And of course you're buying stock
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  Speaker 3: six or nine months earlier. And we had been talking
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  Speaker 3: all through twenty twenty four about the survive to twenty five.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, twenty twenty five hasn't quite been as
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  Speaker 3: boyant as Great hope. So, you know, looking ahead, others
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  Speaker 3: are thinking Christmas is coming, you know, boxing day sales,
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  Speaker 3: you know the Christmas build up, you know that's going
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  Speaker 3: to be a positive. I've already bought my Christmas in
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  Speaker 3: summer stock. I'm starting to look at paying for it shortly.
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  Speaker 3: Sales will return back at that time by the time
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  Speaker 3: we get there with you know, the economic sectors we're looking.
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  Speaker 2: For, Which is my next question. This is the critical
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  Speaker 2: part the seventy percent. How much of that seventy percent
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  Speaker 2: is based on all the economists and the so called
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  Speaker 2: experts saying, stand by, stand by, stand by, the good
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  Speaker 2: news is coming versus the so called reality. Might we
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  Speaker 2: be wrong and therefore their optimism is delusional.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely. Look, I think there's two factors in here. One
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  Speaker 3: is that you know, all those economic factors, the headline
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  Speaker 3: numbers are. You know, everyone's talking up a good talk,
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  Speaker 3: and we actually have to see a turn around in
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  Speaker 3: consumer confidence because until consumers see more money and their
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  Speaker 3: wallet at the end of the week before their payday,
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  Speaker 3: then they're not going to go out and spend any money. No.
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  Speaker 2: Is it geographic and sectorial? In other words, I mean
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  Speaker 2: if you can't do well in Queenstown at the moment,
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  Speaker 2: you're not doing business proper. So is it random? Depending
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  Speaker 2: on where you look.
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  Speaker 3: It is definitely in the provinces and rural areas stronger
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  Speaker 3: than it is in Auckland and Wellington for example. So
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  Speaker 3: you know you're just talking about the rural sector that's
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  Speaker 3: absolutely applicable here. You know, that is really holding up
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  Speaker 3: that those funds are going back into those local economies.
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  Speaker 3: So that's helping more buoyancy in those provincial areas in
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  Speaker 3: New Zealand compared to the urban areas.
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  Speaker 2: Good stuff, Carolyn, Always the joy to have you on
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  Speaker 2: the program. Carolyn Young, Retail New Zealand Chief Executive.
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