Mastercard New Zealand’s annual research of more than 1000 New Zealanders revealed one in 10 people would hold off buying gifts until the Boxing Day sales, up from 7% in 2016 and 4% in 2015.
Mastercard country manager Peter Chisnall said for people who had been eyeing up something specific, the days after Christmas could be a great way to find a good deal, particularly for larger purchases that were not time-sensitive for Christmas Day.
Men were more likely than women to make additional purchases on top of their Christmas shopping and to hunt for bargains in the Boxing Day sales.
But the majority of Kiwis were more interested in Christmas Day itself, he said.
More than half (54%) said getting presents on the day was more important than getting a better price later. Fifty-eight percent felt Boxing Day sales were stressful and not worth the hassle.
Three-quarters of Boxing Day sale shoppers would check the deals online first before heading in-store or buying online and 23% of New Zealanders planned to take advantage of online Boxing Day deals on both New Zealand and international websites, Mr Chisnall said.
"The fact many New Zealander retailers have websites means people can find deals from the comfort of their own home."
PriceSpy.co.nz expects online traffic to be about two and a-half times higher than the average
December day, bigger than just the Christmas shopping frenzy.
New Zealand country manager Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett said as so many products being discounted, it was no surprise the Boxing Day sales were so popular.
Boxing Day was by far the cheapest day of the month as prices started to drop from yesterday and would remain low into early January.
Those waiting to do their shopping just one day after Christmas Day could expect to receive an average saving of about 17% per product.
With 30% of items listed in PriceSpy.co.nz on Boxing Day at a lower price than a week earlier, it paid to wait, she said.
PriceSpy data demonstrated the closer to Christmas, the bigger the savings consumers could receive. That was especially true for more popular items such as speakers, headphones, activity trackers, perfumes and toys.
The data also showed Kiwis were hunting for fans to keep them cool and barbecues and Ms Matinvesi-Bassett urged shoppers to buy wisely. Some popular products peaked in price at this time of the year.
"The popularity of barbecues in New Zealand can increase five-fold during the summer months. If this heatwave is anything to go by, it may be even higher this year."
