The latest reports confirm that retailers have purchased a record low number of goods, and for lower prices from the Wholesalers.

Statistics New Zealand figures show, seasonally adjusted wholesale trade sales declined in the March quarter a record of 5.9%, in the December quarter more than double the previous largest fall of 2.5%.

All wholesaling industries witnessed drop, with the largest decrease in sales coming from petroleum products, which plunged a record 17%. Westpac senior economist Doug Steel says, "Because the fall in wholesale trade sales is largely due to prices rather than volumes, it will only drag down first quarter Gross Domestic Product by about 1.5%."

(via TopNews New Zealand. Contributed by Manish Verma