The last place you want to be in the next couple of weeks is a supermarket. Around Christmas they're busy, stressful, stuffy and just a pain.
Online shopping has helped but in places like the Coromandel, holiday-makers means the roads are just as hectic as the shops.
So New World Whitianga has gone outside the box and onto the sea to make sure people have the most stress-free shopping experience they can this summer.
Kerry Stanley of New World Whitianga told Seven Sharp how the idea came about.
"The butcher, the buyer the store manager and myself all said, 'there must be a better way'," he says.
"The butcher said 'you need a boat' and they all started laughing."
However, Mr Stanley believed he was onto something.
So, he invested in an amphibious craft to deliver groceries to locals. in what he believes to be a world first.
Now, customers order online, their groceries are packed into a van and off to the Whitianga marina to be loaded onto waka kai for delivery along the coast.
The vessel can travel from Whitianga to Cooks Beach in under 15 minutes.
The experience means a stress-free Christmas for many Coromandel residents this year.
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