Industry28 November 2025

Back to retail?

The start of a new era? As Kiwis feel record inflation and a threatening recession, online spending on physical goods has fallen for a second consecutive quarter — while in-store retail surges.

Online spending is now below where it was two years ago, while in-store spending on retail goods has seen a significant increase compared to the same quarter last year.

Are we seeing shoppers switch back from online to physical shopping — and if so, what does that mean for newsstand, bookshops and the print economy more broadly?

The signs are tentative but encouraging for the print sector. When readers slow down, they reach for considered formats — and magazines have always rewarded the time spent with them.