Core retail electronic card spending was flat in January.
Statistics New Zealand says spending on core retail products, which excludes motor and vehicle related industries - using debit, credit and charge cards dipped a seasonally-adjusted 0.1%.
This follows a rise of 0.7% in December.
Higher fuel prices saw total retail sales climb 0.5% during the month.
However, the total value of transactions was up 1.1%, the largest monthly increase in six months.
Goldman Sachs JBWere economist Philip Borkin says the figures are in line with recent data that shows the economic recovery is still fragile.
