As a result of Brexit, Northern Ireland is operating customs and regulatory arrangements differently to the UK due to the Northern Ireland Protocol, meaning put simply – deliveries to NI have been widely affected.
Animals, plants and other food products entering the region from Britain are subject to EU checks and processes as NI is remaining in the EU single market for goods.
The Northern Ireland Protocol is aimed at preventing a hard land border between NI and the Republic of Ireland, and so these checks are being carried out at ports, basically implementing a border in the Irish Sea.
NI shoppers have noticed some supermarket shortages and many have taken to social media with photographs of bare shelves.
Aodhán Connolly, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, said that "while there may be slightly less choice there is plenty of stock" and noted that the new strain of coronavirus that emerged before Christmas has also played a factor in delivery delays.
"We're still recovering from the days that we didn't get stuff over the Channel (between Dover and Calais)" he told Belfast Live.
"It's complicated. We're some staff down because of shielding and contact tracing, and that means it is taking slightly longer to refill the shelves.
"There are no shortages. There may be a few choice issues, but there is plenty of stuff so people should just buy normally."
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Other online retailers have previously alluded to delivery issues regarding NI due to the Irish Sea border, with Amazon for example stating that “some items may be unavailable for delivery to your selected Northern Ireland delivery address”.
One NI woman (who wishes to remain anonymous) told Sync NI of multiple online orders she placed that have been disrupted or completely cancelled by Brexit.
“I ordered from Napapuri (a clothing brand) before 2021 and received an email to say the order couldn’t be fulfilled.
“Everything has been delayed. Daniel Wellington (a British jewellery brand) won’t deliver to NI. You have to order through their EU site now?! And my Under Armour (a fitness apparel brand) - order is taking longer than usual to arrive.”
The woman is also an Amazon Prime customer, meaning that she subscribes monthly for Prime benefits.
One such benefit is that if she orders items that display the ‘Prime’ logo on Amazon’s shopping site, she should be guaranteed next-day delivery, however she added that this has completely halted since the beginning of the new year.
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Smaller, lesser-known independent brands have also been affected.
Sean Caddell, a Co Antrim man placed an order with Pretty Green clothing line, which informed him that there was a ‘problem’ with his delivery but did not give specific details as to what.
He also ordered from Eil, a rare record store, which stated that his order was dispatched on 28 December but by 7 January there was still no word on where the records were, despite being shipped.
One Twitter user pointed out that the MAC make-up brand isn’t currently delivering to NI, to her dismay as she received a gift card for the brand but can’t order anything as MAC’s high street stores are also closed because of Northern Ireland’s ongoing lockdown.
The cosmetics company's website states that deliveries to NI are continuing, but warns "please note that some deliveries to Northern Ireland could be delayed by Irish Customs".
An array of firms that have released statements on their temporary halts or delivery delays to NI also include Dunelm Mill, Decathlon, M&S, Peloton, John Lewis, Next, TK Maxx, Coach, Hugo Boss, Levis, Halford's and many more.
Last week, international delivery service DPD said it was “pausing” its road service from the UK into Europe, including the Republic of Ireland.
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Have you been affected by Brexit and deliveries in any other way? Let us know by e-mailing team@syncni.com
