The Season for Retail, NZ 2022

Westfield has Christmas wrapped up for our customers and our partners!

With over 25 years of experience in successfully delivering the biggest retail moment of the year, New Zealanders look to Westfield as the home of Christmas.

The busy period from October to January delivers an unrivalled opportunity to leverage the strong connection shared with our customers across this period we call, ‘The Season for Retail’.

After more than two years of missed moments and altered plans, New Zealanders are seeking to leave that all behind and are looking forward to planning a fun, festive Christmas.

We know that consumer behaviour and priorities are continuing to shift, so let’s take a look at the trends for 2022.

More Customers

New Zealanders are making up for missed moments – and they’re doing it at Westfield. New Zealanders are planning bigger celebrations, embracing the Christmas spirit, buying more gifts and increasing the amount they spend on presents this year.

Over half of (58%) customers choose Westfield at Christmas first¹, for our consistency, quality, and unmatched festive-filled experiences. For most, it’s about the long-loved traditions they look forward to at Westfield, like Santa Photography, joyful decorations and in centre events, as well as the increasingly popular furry-family photos, with Pet Photography!

More Occasions

Customers are celebrating and spending earlier in the season, driven by key sales moments.

Leveraging more shopping ‘occasions’ than before, over 1 in 3 (37%) New Zealanders² will start planning for Christmas before October.

At Westfield this year, decorations will be displayed in October, marking a special moment in centre that kicks off the festivities. The majority of customers will begin their Christmas shopping at Westfield by the end of November, with 92% agreeing Westfield Week of Offers³ & Black Friday is a good way to shop for Christmas, and themselves!

Westfield customers choose our centres as their main destination for all their Christmas and gifting needs.

Last year we saw an uplift in customer visitation during the season, meaning partnering brands experience greater exposure across a period when it matters. As the key source of gift inspiration for Westfield customers (63%)⁴, you can tap into our high-value audience at scale, who are actively looking to spend more money, across multiple shopping occasions, in new ways - all within our trusted environment.

More Connections

Brands need to connect where it counts, across multiple touchpoints.

The preference for physical retail is here to stay, with over 6 in 10 looking forward to shopping for pleasure⁵ and ticking Christmas items off the list.

Customers are using multi-marketing platforms, fusing digital and physical platforms, to inform and make purchase decisions. Seeking inspiration from one channel, information from another, and gratification from going into our centres to secure the product, service, or experience.

To keep up with this changing behaviour, clients need to utilise multiple media channels for spreading their marketing messages – and this can all be achieved within the trusted Westfield environment.

Contact us to learn more about the Season for Retail.

We work with brands to utilise our extensive seasonal, customer & location knowledge to deliver the most relevant reach, placing brands in the most strategic touchpoints to drive campaign efficiency.