Unlike previous years whereby we were all oblivious to social distancing and viruses, in 2020, the thought of being shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of eager shoppers, makes one want to go and wash your hands, just at the idea of it all. But it is imperative to remember these retailers need to, and legally must ensure your safety.
Therefore with regulations in place what can you expect, and how are retail outlets going to conduct their Black Friday specials without either breaking the law or secondly being the cause of health concerns—all the while ensuring, this highly anticipated annual sale goes off without a hitch.
As a way to offer you some assistance as to how all of this will work, the Newcastillian – Online News spoke with Shoprite Holdings LTD and the Newcastle Mall to gain clarity.
When it comes to safety, Shoprite Holdings LTD claims it is not taking any chances. The colossal retailer assures, “Since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak, the Shoprite Group has proactively acted to safeguard its employees and customers and will continue to do whatever is within its power to protect their well-being and health.”
With a series of regulations already being practised, Shoprite Holdings LTD states, “Stringent hygiene and sanitising protocols will be in place to help protect customers and employees as far as possible including the use of face masks, hand sanitiser, social distancing and limited entry where necessary to avoid overcrowding. Additional security measures will also be employed.”
Moreover, the retailer adds that Shoprite and Checkers supermarkets will run Black Friday deals across several days to give customers enough time to plan and shop, to offer all an improved shopping experience with health and safety the top priority. Thereby ensuring overcrowding is not an issue.
When expanding on the retail element, taking a large store and scaling it into a mall, one can only but imagine the planning and execution which is needed around such times of the year. In lieu of this Beulah Rajkumar of Newcastle Mall explains the shopping complex will be taking a series of steps to protect shoppers. Whereby she affirms, that should a store reach it’s “capacity there will be queuing allowed outside the stores with a physical distance of 1.5m. The queuing is also limited inside the mall, which will then continue outside the entrances.”
In terms of not adhering to regulations, like most businesses, the Newcastle Mall will not tolerate people forgetting to wear masks or ignoring COVID regulations, and non-compliant shoppers will be asked to leave. “There is most definitely a consciousness about crowds and so while there will be less crowding, there may be more urgency, so we ask shoppers also to be vigilant and mindful of each other. Most stores are running Black Friday specials on more than one day, or online specials so there may be more time to find all you are looking for.”
The great takeaway from this is; Black Friday is now a week not a day (for many businesses). This is a double-win, in the sense that you get to shop in some form of normality, obtaining the same deals you would have fought for in a crowd a year ago on a single day. And the retailers get to deal with a challenging predicament while extending their earning potential by days.
Personally, I would say Black Friday this year, is a little gift and is a result of all the chaos over the past few months, enjoy it.
Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
Authors: Quinton Boucher and Calvin Swemmer
Edited: Calvin Swemmer
