With the New Zealand border slowly reopening, and many leaving the country to visit family and friends overseas, suitcase sales have skyrocketed.
But so have the prices, new data indicates.
Luggage.co.nz had been trading since 2015, and director Elliot Hall said the pandemic had been extremely tough on business.
“[Sales of] suitcases, our key sales product, reduced by 85 per cent,” he said.
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To save jobs and the business, it had moved in to other categories and even set up a new website to sell homeware. But since the border began reopening in March, luggage sales had increased dramatically.
New PriceSpy data suggested popularity for travel-related goods and accessories had risen, with suitcase and bag sales skyrocketing, increasing 51 per cent year-on-year.
“We’ve absolutely seen luggage sales coming back,” Hall said, with some ranges almost sold out.
Its luggage and suitcase category was up 160 per cent on the month prior to borders opening, and Hall expected it to be only the beginning as international departure numbers increased.
“We couldn’t be happier to see international travel returning,” he said. “For the business and our amazing team it means everything. Covid sent the business in to a two-year period of uncertainty.”
123RF
Suitcase sales has increased since the border reopened.
PriceSpy country manager Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett said data suggested prices for travel-related goods had risen alongside their popularity.
Compared to the start of the year, the indexed price across the shopping category of bags, which included suitcases, rose 4.32 per cent.
The indexed price change between March 1 and the middle of April was an increase of 2.56 per cent.
Hall said Luggage.co.nz had to add a minor price increase on certain ranges.
“However, we are doing everything we can to absorb as much of those increases as possible.”
The cost of raw materials had gone up for manufacturers making the actual suitcases, and coupled with high sea freight costs, it had become difficult to sustain historical pricing, he said.
“We are paying roughly four times the amount for a landed 40ft container compared with 2019 pre-Covid. As luggage is a bulky item to ship, this has meant unit prices have increased,” he said.
