Every retailer who Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young had spoken to believed they had done really well in the Boxing Day sales, she said.
It seemed that Christmas may have snuck up on consumers, she said.
"The conversations I've had really have been fairly similar ... perhaps being on a Wednesday it was only the last four or five days that things got really busy. Normally you'd expect it to be really frantic two weeks out, and for the whole month for December, you'd be busy.
"Obviously with the economy, people are being careful with their finances, so it might be a little bit of that taken into account too."
While it was a "really frantic" lead into Christmas, "Boxing Day was a boom", Young said.
"Every retailer I've spoken to said they did really well. So that's really great to hear."
It would be interesting to see the official data when electronic card data information came out in mid-January, she said.
"We'll be able to see whether the second half of December was enough to lift a relatively quiet start to that month, and to see whether or not we can actually get the momentum and maybe get some positive uptake on December 2023."
