Industry association Retail NZ has made a plea to the New Zealand government to allow shopping in-store at Alert Level 3 where considered safe.

Chief executive Greg Harford said that while health precautions are critical, retailers have shown they can operate safety.

“Retail NZ is in no way suggesting that shopping can return to normal in the short-term, but retailers with a brick and mortar presence have demonstrated proactive, responsible and sensible steps to mitigate risks in order to open their doors to customers on a limited basis,” Harford said.

“Other retailers should be able to open if they can meet the same health and safety requirements.”

Many businesses operate from very large footprint stores with low customer density, such as furniture, hardware and garden stores.

And since not all goods can be sold practically online, Harford argues that retailers could have the option of opening physical spaces in order to meet customer needs.

The New Zealand retail sector turns over $97 billion a year, and employs approximately 215,000 Kiwis across 27,000 businesses.

“Our sector is a big part of the economy, and because it is focused on servicing domestic consumption needs it is well placed to support the reboot of the economy,” Harford said.

“Not all stores will be able and willing to open at Level 3, but they should have the ability to do so if it makes sense and can be done safely.”