Carolyn Young: Retail NZ CEO on the impact of Temu on the value of New Zealand's imports

The growing volume of purchases from the likes of Shein and Temu are hitting New Zealand’s import economy hard. 

Stats New Zealand has revised the National Accounts, with imports down $2.5 billion in the June quarter. 

The average value of parcels has dropped sharply, driven by fast fashion and cheap e-commerce.  

Retail NZ CEO Carolyn Young told Mike Hosking a lot more people are looking to buy goods from overseas retailers as opposed to New Zealand. 

She says they’re trying to encourage people to buy from local stores and businesses, as it’s important to try keep the money in our economy as opposed to shipping it off to China. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stat's New Zealand numbers revised down our important numbers for
the year ending March there were two point twenty five
billion lower than thought. That's zero point five percent of GDP.
It's a lot to get wrong. Part of that's the
value of these cheap goods they've dropped. So it's all
the stuff from Shean and Timu and the average value
of parcels have dropped sharply. So Carolyn Young is Retail
New Zealand's Chief executive officer. Respect well, it's Carolyn, good morning.

(00:24):
Why we can't get my head around, and you might
be able to help us, is what are we seeing here?
Are we seeing a lot of us buying the stuff
online from China and that's dropped off, or are we
still buying the same amount but it's less of value
because everything's stupid? Do you know what's going on?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah, Look, we are seeing a significant interest in people
buying goods from the likes of Timu, and you know
the price of their goods is lower, so STATS will
have been forecasting out goods have been freighted and at
a higher price effectively, But the volume that's coming through
now is just higher and a lot more people are

(01:00):
looking to those sites to buy goods rather than buying
goods in New Zealand, which of course is hurting our economy.
Is that you're going to buy from local businesses. You're
going to help New Zealand grow and help you know,
people have jobs and more money coming around in New Zealand.
So we're trying to encourage people to buy from New
Zealand stores. You know you've got those guarantees too, right,

(01:21):
you know, you know that the good is going to
meet the health and safety standards of New Zealand. You
know that. You know you've got Consumer Guarantees Act and
the Fair Trading Act's going to protect consumers. So really
important to try and keep the money in our economy
rather than shipping it off to China.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
What's your vibe? Is this an economic thing? In other words,
I will buy the cheapest thing I can get my
hands on, or is it just I want to be
part of this fres soon around Timu Machine and those
sort of places.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
I think it's a bit of both. You know, people
get onto those websites and they are and the nicest
possible way they have got the technology sorted to really
pull you in and get you to buy the next thing,
and the next thing and the next thing. And so
their prices are so cheap because they come straight from
a massive manufacturing plant. They offer things that you can't
necessarily get at the price in New Zealand, and people

(02:08):
think I might get that, and I get that, and
then you know, they tell a friend about it, and
then they go and have a look, and you know,
there's that fear of missing out is in there when
people start looking at this stuff. But ultimately a whole
lot of it ends up on landfill. So it's just
really hard on the whole New Zealand ecosystem.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Have you bought a La Boo Boo?

Speaker 2 (02:26):
No? I haven't, I had to say, But I have
seen the ones that no Naomasaka has got at the
US Open. She has a new one every day that
she wins.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, there's something I don't know. But while I've got
you on slightly more important Issu's Smith's City kitchen things,
where are we at the retail cycle? How are we
at the bottom yet?

Speaker 2 (02:46):
I'd like to think so, Mike, But we feel like
we've been saying that for a while. Look, you know,
obviously we've got another one or two cuts of the
official cash rate. We're really hoping that that will give
a boost. But the leg factor in these economic measures
and actually seeing a change in the economy is significant,
and it's much more than the economists for thinking hoping

(03:08):
that you know, by March next year we're going to
see a difference. But at the stage, you know, we
are hearing from some businesses they're seeing some green shoots,
but I think some of that is about the fact
that there's less businesses around, so you know, you're getting
a large share of a smaller pie, so to speak.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Good and so I appreciate it. Carol and Young Retail
News also that whole buy from New Zealand by local.
I mean, that's you're flogging a dead horse, aren't you.
As much as I hate to say it, But at
the end of the day, price wins every time, doesn't it.
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