Coronavirus: Wild Oats to start delivery service because of Covid-19 threat

Wild Oats owner Joseph Pawson is encouraging other local retailers to provide delivery options Photo / Mike Tweed

Wild Oats health food shop owner Joseph Pawson says offering free delivery to customers was the obvious thing to do during the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's really just an abbreviation of any normal online ordering service," he said.

"Offering delivery is a viable template for any retail business, and helps keep foot traffic to a minimum, while preventing shops from having to shut their doors entirely."

Pawson said he was unaware of other retailers offering the service, but insisted it was the next logical step in the fight to control Covid-19.

"We hold bulk foods on the shop floor, so this initiative stops any cross contamination, and allows us to compartmentalise our products.

"It's simple common sense at the end of the day, a 'hope for the best, plan for the worst', type of scenario."

Many of Wild Oats' customers are elderly or had immune system issues, so delivery to their doorwas a sure fire way to minimise the threat of viral spread, Pawson said.

"This service will hopefully reassure people who have already entered self isolation that they have access to products.

"All deliveries are free of charge, and I do them myself for the most part.

"It's just a case of sending a text upon arrival and leaving the package in the letterbox or at the front gate."

Pawson hoped all retailersin Whanganui would offer delivery if the coronavirus threat continued to grow.

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"One of my staff was in the supermarket the other day and saw people staring in disbelief at the empty shelves and saying 'it's really happening'.

"We as a community need to pre-empt things as best we can, not assume that it's merely an 'overseas thing'."

"Ordering items over the phone or online might help curb all the mass 'panic buying' we're seeing at the moment, who knows."