The vision of a group of men involved in a violent brawl in a South Auckland supermarket is deeply disturbing, but overseas it's relatively common and has even led to deaths.
America's Black Friday sales are the best-known example of the dangerous hysteria that can occur in the retail environment.
The phenomenon has even led to the creation of the Black Friday Death Count website which gives details of the 10 deaths and 105 injuries from retail violence over the past 10 years.
Shopping violence is also common in Europe with fights regularly breaking out during big sales periods such as Easter, Black Friday and Boxing Day.
The opening of a new Ikea store in England resulted in six people being taken to hospital including one with stab wounds.
