Consumers urged to shift spending to small retailers during sale season

Sean Cao

28th Nov 2025

Global small business platform Xero has called on consumers to support SMEs during the upcoming sale periods, saying that shifting a small portion of their spendings can make a significant contribution.  

Xero economists estimate that New Zealand household consumption topped NZ$110 billion last year (after deducting spending like utilities, some transport and communications).

This means redirecting just 10 per cent of such spending would contribute NZ$11 billion to small businesses.

Bridget Snelling, country manager – Aotearoa New Zealand at Xero, said conscious consumers can have a significant impact on the small business economy, especially in key periods like Black Friday and Christmas.

“November and December are the biggest months of the year for the retail industry,” Snelling said. “There is always a lot of noise coming from the big business retailers which can make the smaller retailers with their own unique offerings a lot harder to notice.”

“We’re calling on all New Zealanders to consider local small businesses when they’re shopping over Black Friday and Christmas. 

“Of course, you need to consider your personal circumstances and household budgets, but even a small reallocation of purchases makes a big difference,” she added.

Xero data shows that small businesses saw negative retail sales last year and only started to pick up a modest growth in this year’s September quarter. Meanwhile, job growth still remained at a negative level.

The company said its findings are consistent with Retail NZ’s Retail Radar report, which highlights that although two-thirds of retailers remain confident about the future, 62 per cent did not meet their sales targets in the last six months.