Consumers will be able to shop online only for essentials during lockdown

Wednesday, 25 March 2020

Consumers will be able to shop online only for essential goods such as 'food, beverages, health and sanitation products and toiletries' during the coronavirus lockdown, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has decided.

'Couriers will only be delivering essential items. We are asking customers to commit to only purchasing essential items at this time,' a spokeswoman said.

Mobile phone repairers and computer repairers were considered an essential service and could continue to operate but must – where possible – do so from home, she said.

There will be no online retail therapy during the lockdown.

'If they must work from their premises they must minimise personal interactions, amongst staff and with customers.'

* Coronavirus: No need to stock up on beer and wine - it's considered 'essential'

* Questions remain over home-office deliveries as stores run out of shop-stock**

Vivace Espresso co-owner Paul Baker (centre) has been unable to find out whether he could deliver bags of coffee.

Vodafone NZ spokeswoman Nicky Preston said it could confirm it would be able to sell mobile phones and Sim cards through its website, saying it had got approval for that.

It and other telcos will also be providing a repair service, via courier or a 'contactless' drop-off store.

It is not yet clear whether or how other near-essential items such as cookers and fridges could be repaired if they broke down.

MBIE said earlier it was looking at ways to get people items such as fridges and washing machines if they need one, with contactless delivery.

Gary Bigwood, chief executive of electronics chain PB Tech, said it supplied computer equipment to a wide range of essential services, some of which had asked the company to continue supplying them during the lockdown.

Like many other Kiwi businesses in that position, it was going through a formal approval process with MBIE to allow it to continue supplying those customers via its distribution centres.

There seemed to be a clear message coming from the Government that the 'only activity' was around essential services, he said on Wednesday morning.

'There doesn't appear to be any other activity [allowed] at all,' he said.

Some food and drinks businesses remained confused about what kinds of products they could deliver.

Paul Baker, co-owner of Vivace Espresso in Wellington, said on Wednesday afternoon that he had still been unable to find out from the ministry whether his business would be allowed to deliver bags of coffee to customers' homes.

He believed some competition might be needed to supermarket chains Foodstuffs and Countdown to 'keep them honest', saying there might otherwise be a risk of price-gouging.

'I know it's a difficult situation,' he said.