Black Friday spending was busy from Orewa to Silverdale and Whangaparaoa, even as Coast shoppers pulled back overall.

On Friday, November 28, non-food retailers on Worldline NZ’s payments network recorded $55.6m of spending nationwide, the highest day so far this year and just ahead of Easter Saturday’s $49.1m.

After adjusting for changes in who trades on the network, non-food spending on Black Friday was still 6.2% lower than in 2024, and 4.6% lower across the three-day weekend.

That pattern lined up with November as a whole, where non-food goods spending sat below last year over most weeks.

Worldline NZ Chief Sales Officer Bruce Proffit says tight budgets are showing through.

“It appears that consumer budgets are still constrained at this end of the year. Clothing merchants experienced higher spending than Black Friday 2024 over the weekend but spending elsewhere was generally down,” he says.

For Coasties, local shops in Orewa, Silverdale and Whangaparaoa sit inside the wider Auckland/Northland region, where Core Retail spending for November slipped 0.3% on last year.

Across the country, total Core Retail spending through Worldline reached $4.09b for the month, up 1.1% on November 2024 after adjustments.

Growth was strongest in West Coast (up 6.3%), Whanganui (5.4%) and Otago (5.0%), while Wellington fell 1.0% and Gisborne 1.8%.

Merchants will be hoping the final weeks before Christmas bring a lift.

Know something local worth sharing?

Send it to [email protected] — we’ll help spread the word.