During the first quarter of 2020, around ******* people were employed full-time in the retail trade industry in New Zealand. This represents a continuous growth in employee numbers on from mid 2019.

E-commerce activities have continued to increase in popularity in New Zealand. As of ************, about ** percent of people in New Zealand aged between 16 and 64 years had recently searched for a product or service to buy online. The share of online shoppers in the country was forecasted to surge to ** percent by 2026.

Online shopping trends

Online grocery shopping via the supermarket chain Countdown generated the highest net e-commerce sales in 2018, surpassing the second ranked online store, The Warehouse, by over *** percent. Many Kiwis are opting to do their weekly grocery shop online rather than in-store, taking advantage of the convenience, time and stress saving aspects of internet shopping. While online grocery shopping showed healthy growth in 2018, the furniture and homeware segment emerged with the largest growth rate in online spending in that year.

Rise of the digital wallet

Supported by a high internet penetration rate, New Zealanders look set to rapidly increase their future e-commerce shopping volume. Online shopping accounted for *** percent of all retail spending as of 2019 and growth is expected to continue in this segment. The number of employees in the retail trade industry increased in 2018, though at a lower rate than in previous years. This indicates that traditional brick and mortar retail outlets may be starting to lose their dominance in the retail market, with increased competition from both local and global online stores.

Business demography statistics

Business demography statistics provide an annual snapshot (as at February) of the structure and characteristics of New Zealand businesses. Statistics produced include counts of enterprises and geographic units by industry, geography such as region or statistical area 2 (SA2), institutional sector, business type, degree of overseas ownership, enterprise births, enterprise deaths, survival rate of enterprises and employment levels.

The series covers economically significant private-sector and public-sector enterprises that are engaged in the production of goods and services in New Zealand. These enterprises are maintained on the Statistics NZ Business Register (BR), which generally includes all employing units and those enterprises with GST turnover greater than $30,000 per year.

For further information: https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/new-zealand-business-demography-statistics-at-february-2020

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Statistical geography

This dataset provides data for the SA2 geography (SA22020_V1_00). Names are provided with and without tohutō/macrons. The name field without macrons is suffixed ‘ascii’. Data for earlier years is available in NZ.Stat– see Geographic units by industry and statistical area 2000-2020.

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Geographic units

The geographic unit represents a business location engaged in one, or predominantly one, kind of economic activity at a single physical site or base (e.g. a factory, a farm, a shop, an office). Geographic units are unique to enterprises and an enterprise unit can have one or many geographic units (business locations). Typically, an enterprise unit only has a single geographic unit, unless the enterprise has paid employees who permanently work at more than one location. Geographic units can be transferred between enterprises (e.g. enterprise B purchases a factory (a geographic unit on the BR) as a going concern from enterprise A).

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Employee count data

Employee counts (ECs) are sourced from the Inland Revenue employer monthly schedule (EMS) tax form.

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Industry

The Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) 2006 is used to compile Business Demography statistics. The classification can be viewed and downloaded from Ariā.

ANZSIC 2006 divisions are:

A Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing

B Mining

C Manufacturing

D Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services

E Construction

F Wholesale Trade

G Retail Trade

H Accommodation and Food Services

I Transport, Postal and Warehousing

J Information Media and Telecommunications

K Financial and Insurance Services

L Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services

M Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

N Administrative and Support Services

O Public Administration and Safety

P Education and Training

Q Health Care and Social Assistance

R Arts and Recreation Services

S Other Services

Total Industry

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Rounding

Enterprise, geographic unit, and EC counts are randomly rounded. Due to rounding, individual figures may not sum to the published totals.

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Quality limitations of fine-level data, including SA2-level data

We recommend caution when using fine-level regional and industry business demography data. The Business Register (BR) supports quality national-level and aggregate industry-level statistics but is not designed to provide quality fine-level regional or industry statistics. The BR update sources can have timing lags and less robust information for small and medium-sized enterprises. These quality weaknesses can be highlighted in fine-level business demography statistics.

For more information about data quality and available data go to DataInfo+.

Online shopping has cemented its place in the retail market, buoyed by rising adoption and better technology. 2024 data shows 9.8 million households shopping online, up from 8.2 million in 2019, a clear sign of growing penetration. This performance has benefited from safer payments, easier returns and smoother mobile access, while new competitors like Shein and Temu push prices down and keep pressure on margins. Augmented reality, chat-enabled service and social shopping are blurring the lines between instore and online, letting shoppers try before they buy and discover products through feeds on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. In this environment, faster broadband and the rollout of 5G coverage are expanding the audience, enabling more impulse buys and seamless checkouts. Over the past five years, the online market’s growth has wavered with the pandemic, then settled into a more price-aware rhythm. The 'search and compare' habit means shoppers cut back when discretionary income tightens and 62% switched brands in 2024 to save money. The share of weekly online shoppers rose from 27% in 2021 to 29% in 2025, with a similar increase in the number of consumers shopping every two to three weeks. (26% in 2021 to 30% in 2025). Profitability lagged early on due to fierce competition and high fixed costs, but retailers trimmed overheads, modernised fulfilment networks and used social content to sustain margins. The market also saw international entrants intensify competition, contributing to the demise of some domestic platforms. Industry revenue is anticipated to grow at an annualised 3.4% over the five years through 2025-26 and is expected to total $64.9 billion in the current year, when revenue will climb by an estimated 6.8%. Going forwards, online sales should keep climbing thanks to broader product ranges, better mobile experiences and pay-later options that streamline purchases. AR-enabled sizing and virtual try-ons will reduce friction in fashion and accessories, while loyalty schemes and free shipping will reward repeat customers. Profit is set to climb as pricing becomes more responsive and import costs ease from a stronger Australian dollar. With omnichannel strategies, showrooming and social commerce, the line between online and offline will stay blurred and hybrid stores will become mainstream rather than niche. Overall, industry revenue is forecast to climb at an annualised 5.9% over the five years through 2030-31 to total $86.6 billion.