Chest freezers were among the first items to sell out in the past few weeks but more recently the demand shifted to laptops and computer monitors.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At Wiely's Betta Home Living chest freezers sold out both at the retailer in the past few weeks and suppliers are also out of stock, although their other products were still in stock.
Harvey Norman also sold out of chest freezers as people looked for somewhere to store the masses of food bought in case of a lock down, and once the freezers were gone people started buying fridges that came with large freezers.
Harvey Norman computer proprietor Simon Tew said with more and more people working from home and with schools recommending students study from home, there was a surge in laptop and monitor purchases.
"I've got a couple of monitors left," Mr Tew said on Tuesday morning.
"The cheap end stuff is mostly gone, a lot of the stuff is gone.
"We are still getting stock in daily, but not a lot of stock in each day.
"We are showing massive growth because of the way things are, because people are buying web cameras, cheaper monitors," he said.
Although the cheaper monitors and laptops had sold out there were still high-end products available and for people with a desk or home office there were still desktop computers available.
Mr Tew said staff were also practicing social distancing to keep themselves and their customers healthy for as long as the store remains open.
"It's a unique and challenging time," he said.
People have also been flocking to the Orange Officeworks store.
Officeworks acting managing director Michael Howard said there had been a spike in technology and home office products that help customers work remotely such as monitors, home printers, computer accessories, cables and sit-stand desks.
"Customers are also responding to an increased focus on hygiene and cleanliness, with strong demand across cleaning and sanitising products," Mr Howard said.
"With an increased number of schools closed or about to close, we are also seeing growth in the popularity of education resources, as parents prepare for kids being at home.
"For customers that can't head in store and get what they need, we are doing everything we can to fulfill online orders."
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
- Send us a letter to the editor using the form below:
Tanya Marschke
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
