With lockdown over, kiwis can returned to a favoured hobby and a necessity for survival relatively uninterrupted - shopping.

But the retail industry has a tough job to encourage spending while getting customers to abide by contact tracing and sanitising rules.

Marketing lecturer Jessica Vredenburg says it is a dilemma for businesses to keep spending up.

She says both the producer and the consumer are impacted by new rules implemented, as New Zealand tries to get back to normal life.

"The retailer's hands are somewhat tied in terms of creating that nice experience, and customers are changing also in terms of what they're actually looking for."