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New Zealand’s services sector experienced a softening in expansion across all main indicators, according to the BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI).
 
The PSI for September was 54.1.  This was 3.8 points down from August, and very similar to the 54.3 recorded in July (A PSI reading above 50.0 indicates that the service sector is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).
 
BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said that while the September result still indicated healthy expansion, comments from respondents tended to show a few seasonal factors at play that gave pause to expansion.
 
“A number of those who provided negative comments tended to focus on current weather conditions, as well as school holidays affecting operations.  This culminated in the proportion of negative comments rising from 34.8% in August to 39.3% in September.”
 
Regarding the latest PSI results, BNZ Senior Economist Doug Steel said “looking through the monthly volatility, there has been some trend slowing in the PSI over recent months. It appears firm’s difficulty in finding staff is one of the obviously many factors involved”.

Goody Card, a groundbreaking smartphone based digital customer loyalty programme, has raised $750,000 in a recent capital raise. The funds will be used to fuel its rapid growth and the company’s move into enterprise and larger business sectors.

Some of the new capital will be spent on further developing the Goody platform, which includes adding a vast array of new features to improve merchant business intelligence and rewarding consumers. Goody’s interim goal is also to increase brand awareness, and to educate Kiwis on the benefits of ditching paper-based loyalty cards, and opting for an app-based, universal programme.

New investors include the Bhatnagar family, who are top five investors in NZX listed Pushpay, a multiple award winning mobile payments business, through its Alliance Equities Ltd vehicle. The firm is joined by four other new shareholders, including Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1.

“We are aiming to have 1 million Kiwis using Goody Card by October 2017,” explains Goody Card founder, Gorran Marusich. “To keep up with this fast growth, we’ll be investing in more staff resources to serve our customers, and to ensure we’re delivering a high-end loyalty and marketing solution.”

“The capital raise is a positive move both for the future of Goody Card and for our business clients and members,” he adds. “It will help us keep growing, meaning we can make the service available to even more people. We are committed to becoming a market leader in cloud-based customer loyalty.”

Fast-growing Goody Card now has 400,000 members signed up, and a network of 730 New Zealand merchants. This includes the McDonald’s owned McCafe network, Lumino The Dentists, AUT, Jesters, Host Accommodation, and GAS Petrol Service Stations. Goody looks forward to announcing further high-profile businesses before Christmas.

The simplicity of the Goody app combined with the powerful business intelligence offered to merchants makes Goody a compelling loyalty programme for businesses. Says Brian Baker, a McDonalds franchisee, “It works, it’s easy and is perfect for our business.”

Goody was started in 2014 by Gorran, and joined early in the business by Shane Bradley, Internet entrepreneur. Goody replaces traditional loyalty programmes. Businesses are provided with their own in-store, branded tablet. Customers can either download the free Goody mobile app or use a physical loyalty card to scan on the tablet. This enables retailers to keep track of how often customers come in and offer them rewards for repeated business more effectively than the traditional stamp card.

The customer’s current points and rewards options are displayed on the tablet screen when they scan their card or app and are also accessible online. The points are unique to each business. One business might offer free coffees, while another might provide hot lap tickets after a certain number of purchases. The flexibility of the programme and cloud software means businesses can customise their rewards to their particular consumer audience. 

For further details on Goody Card, visit goodycard.co.nz.

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Activity in New Zealand’s manufacturing sector picked up in September, according to the latest BNZ – BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI).

The seasonally adjusted PMI for September was 57.7 (a PMI reading above 50.0 indicates that manufacturing is generally expanding; below 50.0 that it is declining).  This was 2.5 points up from August, and the highest level of activity in the sector since January this year.  The sector remains solidly in expansion in almost all months since October 2012.

BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said that the lift in expansion levels was welcome after two consecutive months of softening expansion. 

“The two key sub-indices of production (61.3) and new orders (60.9) returned to post-60 point values, while employment (50.3) moved back into slight expansion mode after showing contraction in August”.  

“The overall improvement in expansion levels was mirrored by the proportion of positive comments increasing to 63.8% in September, compared with 58.4% for August.  A number of positive comments again centered on preparation for the summer/Xmas season, while international orders continued to hold up relatively well”.

BNZ Senior Economist, Craig Ebert, said that “while the PMI kicked back up, the details of the survey again highlighted some fraying at the edges.  This was not so noticeable by region anymore, but large firms (45.0) were more clearly lagging the impetus that relatively smaller firms maintained in September”.

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