Selling to New Zealand from Australia: Expert tips for your eCommerce business

A popular market for Australian retailers

New Zealand has a population of 5.2 million,¹ compared with 26.8 million Australians.²  New Zealanders spent $2.78 billion online in the first six months of 2024.³

For Australian eCommerce retailers looking to tap into this market, it’s a simple proposition.

• There are no language barriers. 
• Shoppers share similar preferences. 
• Shipping and logistics are easy. 
• The Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA) protects free trade between the two countries, so there’s no red tape.

To help you get started, we spoke to some Australian businesses who are successfully selling to New Zealand. Here’s their advice.

Do your research

Aussies and Kiwis share pretty similar values. But don’t assume your products will fly off the shelves in New Zealand as they do here. A local brand may have your corner of the market covered and the loyalty may run deep. That’s why it’s still important to do market research into:

• the overall economy and size of the market
• your competition in the new market
• any language, cultural or societal barriers to entry
• customer behaviours and preferences
• shipping and logistics hurdles and opportunities

Jill Weeks, owner of equestrian clothing brand Plum Tack, has been selling to New Zealand shoppers for about five years. Before she made the leap, she joined Facebook groups and spoke to contacts in the New Zealand equestrian industry to make sure her brand would be well-received.

“I needed to get a sense of whether it was worthwhile building a reputation there, as it takes a lot of time, effort and marketing budget before new customers start to recognise a brand. I also wanted to understand how stiff the competition would be, as well as how people there felt about purchasing from Australia,” she says.

Rigorous research helped Tali Mason and Shaanti Wallbridge, cofounders of All Shades Matter Cosmetics hit the ground running when they started selling into New Zealand.

“We researched competitor brands and data trends in the beauty space. We also spoke to family, friends and people of colour in general, and completed surveys with them about their experiences when finding beauty products,” says Tali.

Rob Rand, founder of Australian underwear subscription company, Knobby says it’s essential to understand the logistics of shipping to New Zealand.

As Rob explains, “It’s those extra hurdles that international shipping brings. Learn about shipping, customs and international trademarking. Work out the best packaging to use for your product to get to its destination safely. These are all the things that will contribute towards efficient delivery.” Discover the essentials in our International Sending Playbook. 

Tailor your sales and marketing strategy

If your target market in New Zealand is similar to here, then you may not have to overhaul your sales and marketing strategy. This was the case for Plum Tack. As Jill says, “Horse people have very similar concerns regardless of whether they are in Australia or New Zealand, so our strategy stayed the same.”

It's still worthwhile having an understanding of your competition and ensuring you differentiate your brand. The popular eCommerce sites and social media platforms can also vary from country to country. In New Zealand, chemistwarehouse.co.nz, temu.com and kmart.co.nz⁴ are the most popular eCommerce sites. The most popular social media apps include YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.⁵

“Our Australian heritage is a great selling point in New Zealand as Australia has such high standards in the beauty industry,” Shaanti of All Shades Matter Cosmetics says. “We promote all of our marketing content to both Australia and New Zealand, but we also have targeted ads, collaborations and connections with local makeup artists there.”

Be clear about your returns policy

Like Australia, New Zealand has strong consumer protection laws, which also apply to online purchases. New Zealanders expect a reasonable returns policy. The good news? Returns from New Zealand can be handled similarly to those in Australia.

“For our New Zealand customers, we handle returns the same way as we do for Australia. Through our MyPost Business account the postage is similar—which allows us to offer the same level of customer support,” says Jill from Plum Tack.

“This support is important. If someone needs to exchange a size, we’ve made sure it’s easy to do. They just need to contact us to let us know they’re returning it, and we take it from there.”

Find out how Australia Post can support you with returns from New Zealand customers.

Find the right logistics partner

Sorting out your logistics and supply chain from the outset is a crucial planning step. You need to know that your products will arrive in a reasonable timeframe and can be sent at a reasonable cost.

Australia Post has a longstanding partnership with NZ Post. This, coupled with our range of international shipping solutions, can make the process easier so you can focus on building your business in a new market.

“I send everything with Australia Post. My business is 100% online so having a great logistics partner is vital. If I can’t deliver my product quickly, reliably and affordably, then I don’t have a business,” says Jill of Plum Tack.

“Australia Post makes it so easy to sell in New Zealand. Even though we’re based in rural Far North Queensland, it usually only takes a few days to get an order to a customer over there. And the customer and I can both follow the tracking and see where the parcel is. We’ve never had an issue.”

Tali and Shaanti agree, saying they chose Australia Post as an affordable and reliable logistics partner that could flex to fit their customers’ needs.

“What really drew us to Australia Post was their business account, which allowed us to streamline our logistics. And the AusPost Business Centre in Geelong went above and beyond to ensure we had all the relevant tools to successfully launch our products into New Zealand. Without their guidance and knowledge, this could have been a much lengthier process,” says Tali.

Ready to dive in?

As Plum Tack and All Shades Matter Cosmetics have shown, making the leap to start selling into New Zealand from Australia can be rewarding. Explore our options for shipping to New Zealand today.