New Caledonia shops in French but prices in CFP francs (XPF), a currency fixed to the euro at about 119.33 XPF per euro, and it applies its own consumption tax, the TGC, instead of French VAT. Because the territory sits outside the EU VAT area, mainland French websites often limit delivery or add overseas shipping for a Nouméa address, and parcels are taxed again on arrival: customs charges duties and taxes on commercial shipments above 3,000 XPF, and French VAT paid at checkout does not exempt a parcel from them. The same product can therefore have a very different landed price when bought locally rather than from France.
Local commerce runs through a handful of domestic sites. The Annonces.nc network groups classifieds by category, with Immobilier.nc for property and Automobiles.nc for cars, while Lemploi.nc is a separate job board. NC la 1ère, the France Télévisions station, and Radio Rythme Bleu are among the main news sources, and Aircalin sells international fares from Nouméa to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and neighbouring islands. Mobile access comes from a single network, run by the public operator OPT-NC under its Helia brand.
Google, used in French, is the main search engine, and French-language queries return mainland .fr pages alongside local .nc sites, so a check from New Caledonia shows whether local businesses or French retailers win a given query. Most residents and shops are in Greater Nouméa in the South Province, with the North Province and the Loyalty Islands served by fewer outlets. Personal data is covered by France's Informatique et Libertés law (Law No. 78-17 of 6 January 1978), with GDPR-based rules extended to New Caledonia by Ordinance No. 2018-1125 of 12 December 2018 and applied since June 2019.
Travel inside New Caledonia is priced separately from the international routes. Long-haul flights land at La Tontouta, north-west of Nouméa, while domestic services leave from Nouméa's Magenta airport: Air Calédonie, majority-owned by the New Caledonian government, flies ATR 72s to Lifou, Maré, Ouvéa and Tiga in the Loyalty Islands, to Koné, Koumac, Touho and Belep in the North Province, and to the Isle of Pines. The Betico 2 ferry sails from Nouméa to the Isle of Pines in about two and a half hours and to Maré and Lifou in four to five, with online booking.