Whakatane New World's making it easy for locals to help those affected by the Canterbury earthquake.

The supermarket's taking donations on behalf of Red Cross for the Quake Relief Fund.

Checkout Manager Anne-Marie Lingard says she's been touched by the response so far.

She says there's no pressure to make a donation, but those who wish to, can easily do so.

She says the check-out operators are very friendly about asking customers if they want to make a donation, and people can let them know how much they want to donate and they'll just add it onto the end of the transaction.

Ms Lingard says if  someone's got $100 worth of groceries and they just want to add a dollar, that's fine.