Spending on debit and credit cards increased more than 1.1% in November.
The increase was led by a 3% rise on appliances and furniture, and a 3.7% lift in fuel purchases.
Core retail spending, which excludes the auto industries, rose 1% to $3.3 billion.
UBS senior economist Robin Clements says it's encouraging to see the lift in spending in the lead up to Christmas, though he says some of the data may be skewed by October's GST increase.
