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Carolyn Young: Chief Executive at Retail NZ on slump in retail spending · The SME Stream

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  Speaker 1: Now, retailers continue to struggle along because we're still watching
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  Speaker 1: all the money that we spend. Electronic card spending data
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  Speaker 1: show to one point one percent fall in October compared
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  Speaker 1: to last October, and September was also down nearly six percent.
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  Speaker 1: Carolyn Young is the chief executive at Retail New Zealand
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  Speaker 1: and with us.
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  Speaker 2: Are Carolyn Cure, Heather. Thanks for having me, Yeah, thanks.
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  Speaker 1: For joining us. So when you look at this, are
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  Speaker 1: you bracing yourselves for a bit of a stink Christmas period?
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  Speaker 2: Oh? Look, I'm in two minds. You know. My heart
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  Speaker 2: is saying, come on, we can get our confidence back
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  Speaker 2: at consumers and let's get out there and support a
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  Speaker 2: local retailers. But my head is saying, you know, it's
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  Speaker 2: probably going to be a tough period over the next
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  Speaker 2: four or five weeks as we work our way through
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  Speaker 2: to Christmas. It's not far away now, and consumer confidence
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  Speaker 2: is still relatively subdued.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think, well, I mean, we still have one
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  Speaker 1: more one more ocr cut at the end of this year.
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  Speaker 1: I don't think towards the end of this month. Is
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  Speaker 1: it possible, Yeah? Is it possible that it gives people
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  Speaker 1: a little philip and that extra little bit to spend.
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  Speaker 2: Look it as possible. Banks usually have cut their rates
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  Speaker 2: prior to the Reserve Bank because they're anticipating what's going
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  Speaker 2: to happen. The challenger courses is our people in the
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: process where they are looking at refixing their mortgage, and
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  Speaker 2: if they're not, it's that lag factor. That's the key
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  Speaker 2: key piece here. And what we do know is that
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  Speaker 2: the all of the economists are forecasting are really strong
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty five. The question is when will it turn.
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  Speaker 2: Will it be February, will it be March, will it
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  Speaker 2: be April. But we're expecting early twenty twenty five to
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  Speaker 2: see a turn, and we really just have to survive
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  Speaker 2: those next four or five months to get us there.
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  Speaker 1: So what happens if it's tight for people? Right, It's
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  Speaker 1: not as if we just pretend Christmas doesn't happen. Do
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  Speaker 1: we just go out and buy smaller gifts.
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  Speaker 2: That's what we're seeing. We're absolutely seeing at the moment
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  Speaker 2: that the average sale price is down across the country
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  Speaker 2: and so people are making are spending, but it's spending
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  Speaker 2: a small amount than what they had been in the past.
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  Speaker 2: I think families will will make decisions around what they
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  Speaker 2: spend on and whether that's on essentials to have a
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  Speaker 2: great Christmas barbecue or a ham or whatever, it might
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  Speaker 2: be one of those special treats and they may decide
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  Speaker 2: to spend this on presents and gifts for potentially adults
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  Speaker 2: or parts of the family. So you know, we know
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  Speaker 2: that it's tough out there and people will need to
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  Speaker 2: make choices.
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  Speaker 1: He are you getting anywhere with Wellington City Council and
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  Speaker 1: putting the brakes on the Goldemart.
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  Speaker 2: It's a really interesting in creation headed because we have
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  Speaker 2: been trying to engage with Wellingam City Council and they
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  Speaker 2: just recently canceled a meeting on us that was forecast
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  Speaker 2: for this week. So pretty disappointed was we were at
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  Speaker 2: at the moment. But we're still pushing ahead and you know,
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  Speaker 2: making sure that we speak out on behalf of retailers
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  Speaker 2: and hospitality around what it is that we need in
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  Speaker 2: the city for it to be thriving, and that's certainly
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  Speaker 2: not more disruption for two or three years.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, good luck with that. I really hope you guys
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  Speaker 1: get your way with it. It's Caroline Young, who's the
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  Speaker 1: chief executive at Retail New Zealand