Visa Inc., the global payments network, has unveiled the spending habits of international Visa cardholders in New Zealand. Marty Kerr, Visa country manager for New Zealand and South Pacific, said, “Two categories that experienced sizable growth in spend volume, which could signal a growing appetite for New Zealand’s culinary scene, were ‘restaurants’ and ‘food and grocery’, with year-on-year spend increasing by 15 percent and 10 percent respectively. Meanwhile, retail, the largest category for inbound spend, grew by 11 percent.”
The data is taken from VisaNet, Visa’s global payments network, which encompasses data from more than 3.4 billion Visa bards issued across over 200 countries and territories.
Visa’s data also highlighted the potential for growth in the e-commerce industry for New Zealand, with data showing Australia, the U.K., and the U.S., benefitting from 70 percent more online spending in comparison to Kiwi merchants. Additionally, the increase of contactless payments increased, with visitors using these services increasing by 64 percent.
When we look at sales channels, we see digital commerce used more regularly in the U.K., U.S., and Australia than in New Zealand,” continued Kerr. “This is important for New Zealand merchants who need to invest in their digital platforms to ensure they are providing excellent customer experience from browsing through to payment.”
This data is particularly useful to New Zealand’s tourism industry. Tourism Industry Aotearoa CEO, Chris Roberts, said investing to deliver quality tourism data and research is one of ten actions to achieving sustainable tourism in order for New Zealand’s broader economy to flourish. “Our Sustainable Growth Framework keeps our focus firmly on growing our value to individuals, communities, the environment, the economy and for our visitors,” continued Roberts. “Independent insights such as Visa’s inbound spend data trends are hugely valuable to help inform how we go about achieving this focus.”
