Majority of New World stores out of Smeg knife blocks as promotion proves most popular ever

Tuesday, 12 January 2021

New World’s Smeg knive blocks are now in limited supply and customers are urged to move quick.

New World’s recent sticker promotion with Smeg has turned into one of the most successful promotional giveaways in the brand’s history, they say.

However, they are advising customers wanting to get their hands on a knife block or knives to move quickly, as supplies are now limited.

The majority of stores have already sold out of their knife block supply, New World head of marketing and CX Pippa Prain said.

The knife blocks were manufactured in a limited run overseas, and Prain said they had already brought in five times as many knife blocks as originally planned to meet the overwhelming demand for them.

* Customers who delay redeeming stickers risk missing out on Smeg knives promotion, warns New World

Popular styles of knives, such as the Chef and Santoku Knives, might be temporarily out of stock at some stores.

“This is in addition to New World snapping up every knife block the manufacturer could produce”

Prain encouraged people to check with their local stores ASAP to avoid disappointment if they had not yet snagged a knife block.

The promotion began on November 2 and is scheduled to run until January 24, with customers collecting one sticker for every $20 spent in store.

The minimum number of stickers required is 25 for a vegetable knife, which translates to $500 worth of purchases.

To collect the complete set, customers would need to spend $4900 at New World supermarkets, or $2820 plus $140 cash, by January 24.

Stickers could be redeemed for a range of six Smeg knives and a knife block, with customers also able to collect fewer stickers and pay a cash top up to collect the products.

Data suggests as many as one in five New Zealanders will have Smeg kitchenware redeemed from New World in their homes, Prain said.

Like most retailer promotional giveaways she said the Smeg promotion was while stocks last and there was also now a limited supply of knives left.

“We have been blown away by New Zealanders’ response to New World's Smeg promotion,” Prain said.

The more popular styles of knives, such as the Chef and Santoku Knives, might be temporarily out of stock at some stores, she said.

“But the good news is that we are waiting on one additional shipment of knives, which includes heaps of Chef and Santoku Knives, to make its way through the ports.

“There are still four other styles of knives for customers to redeem if the knife style they want is temporarily out of stock.”

While customers could wait to redeem their stickers for their preferred style of knife once it arrives back in their local store, she said they could not guarantee everyone would have success.

“Our best advice is to head in store sooner rather than later to redeem, and to please check in with your local store or visit your store’s Facebook or Instagram for the latest up-to-date information on their stock availability.”

Originally, New World said they had ordered more than one million giveaway knives for the promotion, but advised customers at the beginning not to delay redeeming the products.

The supermarket chain came under fire early in 2020 when it ran out of Spiegelau stemware before the promotion ended.

North Island customers who had collected the requisite number of stickers eventually received their glasses, but those in the South Island were given gift vouchers instead.