Last year's Black Friday weekend saw Kiwis spend $175.6 million at core retail merchantsⁱ. If just 1% had been redirected to KiwiSaver accounts, it would have generated $1.75 million in retirement savings – plus decades of compound growth.

With Black Friday approaching amid continued cost-of-living pressures and unemployment at a nine-year high^ii, the shopping event presents an unexpected opportunity to address New Zealand's retirement crisis.

Nearly 1 million KiwiSaver membersⁱⁱⁱ miss out on government contributions because they don't contribute enough throughout the year. Many are self-employed, stay-at-home parents or have irregular income.

"Black Friday is one of the biggest spending weekends of the year. People will spend regardless – but what if that spending also secured their financial future?" says Mark White-Robinson, Co-Founder of spend-save app Feijoa.

Recent data shows 66%^iv of New Zealanders don't feel prepared for retirement, while the average KiwiSaver balance sits at just $37,000^v. But a change in spending psychology is already happening.

"Across tens of thousands of transactions over the past two months, our users are automatically rounding up an average of $3.72 every day – that's $1,358 a year going into KiwiSaver accounts, a 32% boost on top of typical contributions," says Mr White-Robinson.

Redirecting even small percentages of Black Friday spending to KiwiSaver could add up significantly and with Feijoa it’s as simple as the tap of a card.

Making contributions linked to everyday spending rather than income works particularly well for the "missing million" who don't contribute through payroll, supporting consistent contributions regardless of employment status.

For many non-PAYE workers, this level of contribution is enough to qualify for the full government contribution.

Since launching less than 8 weeks ago, Feijoa users are on track to contribute three quarters of a million dollars to their KiwiSaver accounts annually through everyday spending – demonstrating that automated savings can scale quickly. And that number is growing fast.

"The question isn't whether Kiwis will spend this Black Friday," says Mr White-Robinson. "It's whether that spending could also help close the retirement savings gap."

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ⁱ Worldline NZ Black Friday 2024 spending (29 November - 1 December) https://worldline.com/en-nz/home/top-navigation/media-relations/press-releases/pr-2024_12_09_01

ⁱⁱ Unemployment levels for September 2025, Statistics NZ https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/unemployment-rate-at-5-3-percent-in-the-september-2025-quarter/

ⁱⁱⁱ Inland Revenue KiwiSaver data https://www.ird.govt.nz/about-us/tax-statistics/kiwisaver/contributions/scheme-providers-payments

^iv 66% of New Zealanders don't feel prepared for retirement (FSC Financial Resilience Index 2025)

^v Average KiwiSaver balance: $37,000 (Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission 2025  

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