QR scanning or manual sign in MANDATORY at all alert levels
"It is clear that when people use the app or manually sign in, rather than relying on memory, contact tracing can happen much more quickly," Hipkins said. Businesses already needed to display codes at all alert levels. We are making it mandatory at the sorts of places where people gather consistently and in large numbers to ensure that people scan or sign in," Hipkins said. "This means those responsible for businesses and events will need to ensure people keep a record when they visit, either by scanning QR codes with the Covid-19 Tracer App or making a manual record." At the start of this month, scanning had slumped to its lowest level before Wellington's Covid scare. Only 498,723 scans were recorded on the Covid Tracer app which was the lowest number of scans on the app since June 22. There were 21 new Covid-19 community cases in New Zealand today, bringing this outbreak's total to 72.
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Christmas Eve busiest shopping day of the year with more than 500,000 sales
Busiest shopping day of the year
Peak time 12 noon-1 pm - 563,303 transactions
Per second peak - 167 transactions
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Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9,745 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7 percent on a year ago.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions was the lowest for the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted rising sales in the first three weeks of the month, but they remained 1.3 percent lower than 2024, with most parts of the country trailing the previous year's spending.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6 percent higher for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and a slow benefit from lower interest rates, and as well as concerns about the soft labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report showing confidence at its highest level in four years.
Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago.
Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.
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Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
🎁 Holiday Gift Chat!
Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?
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79.2% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
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20.8% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
Exclusive Christmas Sleep Deals - Up to 65% OFF Beds!
Hi neighbours,
This coming Christmas, why not treat yourself to better sleep? For one day only, we’re offering an extra 5% OFF on top of our already reduced Boxing Day Bed Sale prices!
With up to 65% OFF on selected beds and FREE delivery, there’s never been a better time to upgrade your sleep. But hurry, these deals are moving fast, and once stock is gone, it’s gone!
If you’d like to see what’s available:
Find your nearest Beds4U store: beds4u.co.nz/store-locator
Browse all Boxing Day deals: beds4u.co.nz/boxing-day
Don’t miss out, give yourself the gift of quality sleep this Christmas!
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