The city centre was busy but not crowded on Tuesday and several shops reported moderate trade.
Dunedin woman Kirsten Webster was hiding from the rain and getting some shopping done while her car was in for a warrant of fitness.
"Just at the last minute, some clothes for Christmas presents. Not too bad. I knew exactly what I wanted. In and out."
She said Monday and the weekend were clearly busier, more stressful days to shop.
"It’s reasonable... not as busy as yesterday.
"Yesterday was a little bit busier I think with the cruise ships. I don’t think there’s one in today."
Waiting for a bus home, Dunedin man Kevin Stuart had only one person to think about for his Christmas Eve shopping.
"I’ve just bought Led Zeppelin How The West Was Won four-LP box set for my Christmas present to myself.
"I just was looking forward to buying it all year and today’s the day," he said.
He said he found shopping in the city centre manageable.
"It’s fine. I was expecting it to be a bit more on the busy side. But it seems to be flowing nicely. It’s good."
Paymark, which processes 75% of the country's electronic card transactions, said although sales figures were yet to be finalised for spending on the 24th, it was likely to be near record-breaking nationally.
Record figures of $297.5 million spent were reached last Friday.
The busiest part of the day on Tuesday happened just after midday when there were 199 transactions per second - up on last year’s 182 per second on December 22.
Paymark chief marketing officer, Maxine Elliott, said that equated to more than 679,000 transactions for the hour.
Monday was a peak day for a number of retail groups.
Recorded new highs included supermarkets (up 3.4% on their previous 2018 high), specialised food shops (+11.1%), department stores (+3.1%) and recreational goods retailers (+12.7%).
The running pre-Christmas spend, at $8.6 billion since November 13, 2019, has already surpassed the total for last Christmas, and will be racing even higher today.
