Christmas Eve was the busiest shopping day of the year with 10,408 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline said from noon to 1pm yesterday 607,299 sales were recorded on its network.
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 is the lowest of the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted an increase in sales in the first two weeks of December on a year ago, but said sales varied between regions.
It said then consumer spending in core retail merchants, which excluded hospitality, reached $1.65b, a rise of 1.2 per cent on the same period last year.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed flat spending for the month and a fall of 2.3 per cent for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and interest rates, and fears of a worsening labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report turning optimistic for the first time in three years.
Boxing Day is expected to remain the country's favourite shopping day this year despite a big Black Friday spend, with Worldline expecting some numbers to be available on Friday.
