Way back in March when New Zealand was told the country would enter lockdown in 48 hours, Kiwis began to get their affairs in order. Toilet paper stocks were depleted, hand sanitiser was nowhere to be found and surgical masks were flying off the shelves.
But as the country settled into its new normal Kiwis kept spending - as lockdown continued certain essential items experienced a huge boost in sales.
Data from PriceSpy has revealed the things that New Zealanders needed to keep themselves occupied and connected through the lockdown.
Game consoles experienced an incredible 3470 percent increase in sales when compared to the same period last year.
With the rise of Zoom meetings, and the need to keep in touch with those they could no longer see face-to-face it's hardly surprising that webcam sales were up by 1491 percent.
Many people have kids at home - and with kids comes the need to occupy them, which could explain the 416 percent increase in Lego sales.
Across the country people used their new found time to learn new skills. Baking gained popularity leading to a yeast and flour shortage - it also meant sales of breadmakers skyrocketed by 354 percent and other kitchen machines like stand mixers went up by 324 percent.
But some Kiwis may have been concerned all that bread had nowhere to go - the lockdown meant no gyms were allowed to open, so the sale of exercise bikes increased by 300 percent.
Hairdressers were also closed and the sale of clippers went up 200 percent - as did the likelihood of some radical home haircuts.
Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett New Zealand country manager for PriceSpy says the research reflects the shift in trends and lifestyles as a result of COVID-19.
"With gyms unable to operate, fitness products such as exercise bikes are becoming increasingly popular. This is further evident from the growing number of home-based fitness classes now available on apps as well online platforms such as YouTube and Zoom."
