There are ongoing delays from couriers, shipping orders around New Zealand. Several factors are combining to stretch lead times, including:
- A substantial increase in online shopping as people avoid physically going to the shops.
- At the same time the vaccine mandate has meant that courier companies have lost many staff members and are finding it difficult to match the higher demand.
- Bad weather over the weekend due to ex tropical cyclone Dovi, led to ferry cancellations, road closures and now there is a back log, especially on orders going to the South Island
With COVID starting to spread exponentially, you can expect to see further delays as companies deal with staff having to self-isolate.
So what can your business do about this?
For regular selling products we’d recommend that you look to hold more stock to try and provide a buffer against delays.
For stock that you purchase to order, it’s important that you set expectations with your customers and let them know that delays are to be expected. We are currently working off the following delivery times as a rule of thumb:
- Auckland (allow 2-3 business days)
- Rest of North Island (allow 3-4 business days)
- South Island (allow 5 business days)
We will continue to keep you updated on this and if you have any questions please feel free to contact us – ph7 International on 0800 323 223, email enquiries@ph7.co.nz or visit us online at www.ph7.co.nz.
