Many online businesses and marketplaces have had their services restricted while on lockdown.
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) clarified consumers will only be able to shop for essential goods online such as food, beverages, health and sanitation products and toiletries while the country is on COVID-19 alert level 4. Couriers have been instructed that only those essential items can be delivered to consumers.
TheMarket.com has re-enabled certain stores on their online marketplace which offer items viewed as essentials during the lockdown in accordance with the government’s guidance.
“This will be a limited range of stores and products within the description of Food, Beverage, Pet and Healthcare,” the company said. “At this point we have been informed that our wine and beer merchants fall under such description so some are now open again for orders.”
Online marketplace TradeMe cautioned their buyers that only some trades will be able to be completed as normal and would depend on whether the seller is an essential business, professional seller or casual seller.
The company said buyers can still browse and purchase listings from professional sellers, however the only payment option will be Ping so that they are covered by their buyer protection policy. Sellers can continue to create auctions and these will be extended, however, members won’t be able to buy the items, instead they can be saved or placed on their Watchlist.
MBIE have previously stated that it is working on a list of essential businesses and that this list could evolve as the lockdown continues.
