New Zealand went into major lockdown on 25 March 2020 which meant only essential businesses and services were allowed to operate.
Even the iconic The Warehouse was not allowed to trade, even online. This is a big deal because they literally brand themselves as a place to get your essentials – from clothes to food to furniture to beauty products – it has it all.
However there were some easing of restrictions under level 4 and The Warehouse, Kmart and a number of other businesses have been allowed to sell online, given that they do stock essentials that would be needed by the community as the country moves into winter.
Now to go back to the missed opportunities for Daiso, Miniso and Yoyoso in New Zealand, none of these stores have an online store. As the company is possibly moving down to level 3 which means less restrictions and more businesses being allowed to trade online (delivery only), it is surprising to see these major brands LACKING with their online ops.
They all have websites, but they’re average.
Yoyoso.co.nz does state that an online store is coming soon. So that’s SOME consolation but if it was already live, they could be taking orders and payment, ready to ship the moment that they’d be allowed to.
For some bizarre reason, Miniso’s NZ domain name is https://miniso-nz.com/en-au/ – and this is what comes up when you visit from within NZ! So bizarre. (there’s a temporary 302 redirect from miniso-nz.com to the /en-au/ subfolder). Again, very bizarre. Miniso.nz or Miniso.co.nz would have been better for a more localised experience. Although it has a product catalogue online, it merely prompts you to ‘buy in store’ and shows you which stores *may* have the product(s) in stock. I say this because they admit the data is not in real time. So again, this is a huge missed opportunity.
Daiso in NZ is a disappointment and probably tops the list. The domain is https://www.daiso.nz/ and has no online store or product catalogue. It’s a glorified store locator.
Now these brands are famous for being ‘clones’ of one another, with Miniso really taking the cake. And they’re not alone with other brands like Mumuso, Yubiso, Ximiso, Nome, Ilahui all doing much the same thing.
They’re your typical ‘no name brand’ brands stocking the most basic of things (toothbrushes!) at decent quality and prices that you can’t go past. So they’re stores that sell ‘essential’ items which puts them in an ideal position to really make the most of this situation in NZ.
It does fill me with some joy knowing that Yoyoso is actively considering an online store. Will it be ready when NZ goes to level 3? who knows. Will they be able to capitalise on the covid-19 lockdown? who knows.
Meta data for all brands is just a joke. And the sites need a lot of work.
But these brands are slacking and if anyone from any of these brands wants to talk, HIT ME UP.
I am ready, willing and able to help you make the most of your online presence, lockdown or not.
