Carolyn Young: Retail NZ chief executive voices disappointment with struck-down Easter trading bill

There's disappointment that a bill has been voted down to remove trading restrictions on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

The MP conscience vote landed on 74 to 49 against it.

Retail NZ says it would have allowed better competition with online websites that still operate on both public holidays. 

Chief executive Carolyn Young says it's sensible to let businesses be open if they want.

"People think everybody wants to have the day off with their family on that day - some people might rather work and get the penal rates and then be able to take the day-in-lieu that they get." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bill seeking to remove Good Friday and Easter Sundays restricted
trading days has been voted down. Politicians voted against at
seventy four to forty nine and a conscience vote. Carolyn
Young Retailing Z Good Evening, Go TOV on the show, Carolyn.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Callen, nice to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
You're disappointed with that.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
We are really because you know, it's a good opportunity.
It was a good opportunity for the trading shop trading
hours to be aligned with other places around the world.
And with online trading, you can buy anything. People will
be online on Christmas Day, purchasing, making purchases ahead of
Boxing Day, stores on the on Boxing Day, and there's

(00:38):
nothing to stop someone trading online. So why would not
be sensible for someone for a store to be able
to be open should they want to be open on
Easter Friday or the Friday for Sunday.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Well, I think it's the staff. It's the staff, isn't it.
It's giving everybody a day off together as one. I mean,
sure people can shop online, but you don't have to
manage physical store.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, I think the thing about that is that that
we're not all the same, and so the fact that
people think that everybody wants to have the day off
with their family on that day. Some people might rather
work and get the penal rates and then be able
to take the day and lose that they get as
an alternate public holiday that they could go to their
son or daughter's school sports day or see their play

(01:24):
or something like that which they couldn't do any other time.
Fair enough, Sometimes that can give you greater flexibility some options.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Are you giving up on this now? Is as dead
in the water?

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Look, I think it'll come background again. It pops us
here up every time. We'll be looking to make it
just like.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Just likeas it'll be back next year. Hey, let's talk
about this this ComCom thing. So the comments question has
come out that got a draft proposal for reducing Visa
and master Card payment fees that we pay, which the
well the retailers pay and then we pay. And now
MasterCard has released a statement suggesting that some retailers pass

(02:00):
on more fees than they are actually charged do they.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Look, it's a complicated space. What we can say and
somewhat I guess is a short answer. But the long
answer is that the merchant service fee, which is a
total fee that retailers pay. Retailers and hospitality businesses pay
to accept transactions via those rails. There's up to six
providers in there that are all taking a piece of

(02:28):
the pie. For a retailer, it's a really complex space
to really understand what your total fees are. So there's
a couple of problems. One is that when you pay
on the terminal, you go there and you pay a
lot of people think about it as being the f
pos terminal, but it's a terminal. Those terminals don't have
the ability to put differential fees on them, so you should.

(02:49):
What we want the terminal providers, and what we wrote
to the Comics Commission about was actually that the terminal
foot providers need to be able to pay differential fees
for a debit transaction or a credit transaction. That would
go some way to alleviating that, I think also simplifying
the system so that everybody understands what the total fees are.

(03:09):
The draft that's come back to the Commerce Commission goes
some way to some of the things that we're looking for,
which is lower fees. But actually we our submission was
ready about we think that if the Commerce Commission wants
the fees to be at one percential lower, which is
what they stated in their draft documentation for consultation. They

(03:29):
should regulate the total fee because we know that interchange
is only one part of the pace.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
So they haven't done. Yeah, they haven't done. In short,
can you give me just a really short yearse or no? Here,
after this draft proposal has been released, our consumer is
going to get cheaper fees at the terminal.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Well, retailers will eventually get cheaper fees and consumers will
as well because the COMMICS Commission will be regulate the.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Longer judge so long as they're passed on. Carolyn, that's
the key, Carolyn Young, retail in Z sixteen after five.
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