Ecommerce Guide For Shipping And Selling To New Zealand

If you own a business and you want to ship something to New Zealand, it does not matter where in the world you live. The paragraphs below are going to present the basics that you have to be aware of. Make sure that you always stay up-to-date with the eCommerce landscape in New Zealand and the laws that apply in the country you live in.

The good news is that New Zealand is fully open to eCommerce with cross-border implications. In fact, the country is one of the main shipping destinations when looking at US businesses that export. We should also mention that New Zealand shoppers now purchase over 6 items every year at an average. Around 40% of these orders are actually cross-border sales.

If you are interested in importing to New Zealand from any country, the guide below lets you know the most important facts to be aware of.

Market Penetration And Ecommerce Landscape

There were several surveys done and they showed us that in the past, New Zealanders loved going to the close shop so they buy what they wanted. Right now, they want to take a digital device and then make a purchase with it. According to a Nielsen survey, there are currently over 2 million NZ citizens that shop on the internet.

When looking at the future projections, we see a clear increase in how many people shop online. This is definitely great for every single business that wants to expand into New Zealand in the near future.

Statistics tell us that 3 in 5 locals in New Zealand use smartphones or tablets when they shop in-store. They do this in order to learn more about items before final purchases are made. Over $5 billion dollars were already spent on online shopping, which translates to around 30 million items.

We should add that the online New Zealand market grew by over 30% since 2012. In 2020, the growth was even higher because of the effects of the pandemic. Online shopping became convenient and people started to take full advantage of broader product assortment, increased value, and competitive pricing. Also, internet usage is higher than ever. Just think about how many Kiwis now use the internet every single day:

• 16 to 24 year olds – 97%
• 25 to 34 year olds – 97%
• 35 to 44 year olds – 93%
• 45 to 54 year olds – 89%
• People over 55 – 81%

These are statistics that cannot be neglected.

The Popular New Zealand Online Marketplaces

Before shipping to New Zealand, it is important that you are familiar with the most popular marketplaces used. Those that are very popular and you cannot overlook are:

• Trade Me – A true household name in the whole of New Zealand. Traffic usually comes from Facebook.
• Ebay AU – Even if it is based in Australia, this is a huge eCommerce platform in the country.
• Graysonline – A huge platform that is both an auction site and an online store. Both industrial and consumer items are available.
• Amazon – This is definitely something that everyone expected.
• Wow HD – This eCommerce platform is very similar to Amazon and sells CDs, DVDs, cosmetics, and books.

What Do Kiwis buy on the internet?

The most popular categories are fashion, books, and multimedia entertainment. Also gifts and toys are often bought from different overseas retailers.

New Zealand Shipping

Whenever shipping to New Zealand, goods can be subjected to import duty, GST (Goods and Services Tax), and more. At first glance, you might believe that shipping to NZ is cheap with a postal courier but this should not be your main choice in most cases because other courier options like freight forwarders can offer much more competitive rates.

Prohibited And Restricted Items

The last thing we should highlight is that there are items that you cannot ship to New Zealand or there are specific restrictions that have to be respected. Some of those that are prohibited include:

• Smoking and vaping equipment
• Disguised weapons
• Weapons like knives and swords
• Objectionable items like records, videotapes, and movies.

Besides these, you need a permit for many other items. Make sure you respect the legality of shipping to New Zealand whenever doing business in the country through a cross-border system.