Francesca Rudkin: Why are we in such a retail frenzy?

Audio file 

FR EDITORIAL 301125.mp3 

 

Transcript 

So, did you get yourself a bargain on Black Friday or some kind of good deal in the last 10 days that may also be associated with a Black Friday? I've done quite a bit of Christmas shopping this weekend, most of it online through Kiwi retailers, and have saved at least the shipping costs or up to maybe 25% savings, which, you know, it all adds up.  

There have been warnings this week about being sucked into Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Consumer New Zealand, they did a three-month investigation. They tracked 10 products at four major retailers, and they found that half of the items could have been bought at the same or lower prices at some point in the last three months.  

But I think we all know this. Black Friday is a brilliantly executed marketing campaign. The reality is a lot of discounts are a token gesture, but if you do your homework and you have a bit of luck, you can find something you wanted for a good price. And I think that we approach shopping differently these days, driven by the fact a lot of the big retailers have sales all the time.  

If we look at the main sales at this time of the year, people go shopping at Labour Weekend, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and hey, look, if you've missed out, Boxing Day is only about four weeks away. So you'd be an idiot to buy something when it wasn't on sale. But hopefully all the spending will still be giving retailers the lift they need.  

This week there was a little bit of good news from Stats New Zealand with data showing that the total volume of sales increased 1.9% in the September quarter compared to the June 2025 quarter. And this is the largest quarterly increase in activity since December 2021.  

Last year, payment provider data showed that more than $175 million was spent at core retail merchants during Black Friday weekend. And it's going to be really interesting to see what the figure is this year. And retail, there sort of seems to be a little bit of a frenzy around retail at the moment.  

Look at the anticipation around IKEA opening in Auckland's Mount Wellington this week on December 4th. Good on AT for warning shoppers there could potentially be 40-minute delays to get off the motorway. And then it may take an hour to find a car park. You were warned. You may think it's unnecessary, but we all know what it's like when we hit that traffic on the motorway and we stop. 

Look, I know. It's exciting. I care opening. I have a kid going flatting next year and I wouldn't be surprised if we end up buying a flat pack of some sort. But IKEA's not going anywhere. Do yourself a favour and give it some time before you descend on the Swedish giant. Or better still, shop at some of our very own Kiwi excellent flat pack furniture stores. But look, if you're less patient than me and you're prepared to deal with the traffic, best of luck out there. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks A'B.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
So did you get yourself a bargain on Black Friday
or some kind of good deal in the last ten
days that may also be associated with the Black Friday.
I've done quite a bit of Christmas shopping this weekend,
most of it online through Kiwi retailers, and have saved
at least the shipping costs or up to maybe twenty
five percent savings, which you know, it all adds up.

(00:36):
There have been warnings this week about being sucked into
Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Consume in New Zealand,
they did a three month investigation. They tracked ten products
at four major retailers and they found that half of
the items could have been bought at the same or
lower prices at some point in the last three months.

(00:56):
But I think we all know this Black Friday is
a brilliantly executed marketing campaign. The reality is a lot
of discounts or a token gesture. But if you do
your homework and you have a bit of luck, you
can find something you wanted for a good price. And
I think that we approach shopping differently these days, driven
by the fact a lot of the big retailers have

(01:18):
sales all the time. If we look at the main
sales at this time of the year, people go shopping
at Labor Weekend, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and hey, look
if you've missed out. Boxing days only about four weeks away,
so you'd be an idiot to buy something when it
wasn't on sale. But hopefully all the spending will still

(01:39):
be giving retailers the lift they need. This week, there
was a little bit of good news from Stats New
Zealand with data showing that the total volume of sales
increased one point nine percent in the September quarter compared
to the June twenty twenty five quarter, and this is
the largest quarterly increase in activity since December twenty twenty one.
Last year, Payment provided data showed that more than one

(02:01):
hundred and seventy five million was spent at core merchant
retail merchants during blackri weekend, and it's going to be
really interesting to see what the figure is this year.
In retail, this sort of seems to be a little
bit of a frenzy around retail at the moment. Look
at the anticipation around I Care opening in Auckland's Mount
Wellington this week on December fourth. Good on at for

(02:23):
warning shoppers there could potentially be forty minute delays to
get off the motorway and then it may take an
hour to sign a car park. You were warned. You
may think it's unnecessary, but we all know what it's
like when we when we hit that traffic on the
motorway and we stop. Look, I know it's exciting I
Care opening. I have a kid going flatting next year.
I wouldn't be surprised if we end up buying a

(02:45):
flat pack of some sort. But I Care is not
going anywhere. Do yourself a favor and give it some
time before you descend on the Swedish Giant, or better still,
shop at some of our very own Kiwi excellent flat
pack furniture stores. But look, if you're less patient than
me and you're prepared to deal with the traffic, best
of luck out there.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks at B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.