Shopping to help Kaikoura

Ina Kinski could well be the Christmas fairy for earthquake-affected Kaikoura retailers.

The Dunedin woman is the driving force behind Shop Kaikoura, an initiative aimed at encouraging people to do their shopping in the coastal tourist town, with a little help from modern technology.

Ms Kinski is the general manager of tech company Igtimi, an electronics and communications technology development house.

Her partner was in Kaikoura when the earthquake hit and she had intended spending part of the summer in the town, working remotely and ``hanging out''.

Heading north in the quake's aftermath, she went into the town on a particularly hot day to buy sandals and found a store having a 25%-off sale.

One thing led to another and she thought it could be an ideal time to do some Christmas shopping. Then she thought of a Wellington-based friend, with two young children, and showed her on Skype what was available for her present buying.

Then she thought ``why doesn't the whole country do it?'' and the concept of Shop Kaikoura was born.

Retailers had embraced the initiative. Customers book a time with a personal shopper and then agree on a video or photo-sharing method, before beginning their shopping experience.

Speaking from Kaikoura yesterday, Ms Kinski said tiredness was evident in the faces of retailers.

There were broken businesses and homes and they had ``very little capacity for having audacious dreams''.

They were getting by and ``doing what they have to do'' but they had so much to sort out and she had spoken to many people who were not sleeping.

Kaikoura was a ``great little community'' and the feeling of people taking care of each other was very strong.

Kaikoura boasted shops with high-value products. There were a lot of New Zealand-specific gifts and also some ``really great'' clothing.

She believed Shop Kaikoura was a winning concept that had no down side and there was virtually no cost associated with setting it up.

The personal shoppers were either university students home on holiday or young foreigners in the area on a working holiday.

Using Timely appointment scheduling - another Dunedin-based business - they could manage their own availability and communicate with clients.

A maximum of about four days' delivery was expected, Ms Kinski said.

Otago-Southland Young Farmers is holding a quiz and auction night in Gore on Thursday to raise money for North Canterbury earthquake victims.

The event will be held at the Gore Town and Country Club and 1974 Commonwealth Games 10,000m gold medallist Dick Tayler will be guest speaker.

Those attending are asked to bring a wrapped Christmas gift to be sent to those affected.