Durban – BLACK Friday is different this year, with bargain-hunting customers having to balance their health and safety with acquiring the best deals.
This year stores and shopping malls prepared for Black Friday under level 1 Covid-19 lockdown regulations and have instituted measures to keep customers safe.
Brian Leroni, senior vice-president for group corporate affairs at Massmart, which owns Game and Makro, said it extended the Black Friday period from four days to four weeks.
He added customers had made good use of its online platform.
He said the stores would maintain existing social distancing protocols which have been perfected, including active marshalling in queues by dedicated queue marshals, enforcing the wearing of masks and closely managing the number of customers in-store.
Pick n Pay has upped its staff capacity, employed additional in-store safety measures, and has provided more online shopping options.
John Bradshaw, marketing retail executive, said: “Queues will be closely managed, and we’ve also spread out our Black Friday deals in-store to help maintain physical distancing.”
Shoprite and Checkers will run Black Friday deals across several days to give customers time to plan and shop to prevent overcrowding.
“Stringent hygiene and sanitising protocols will be in place.”
At Galleria Mall, marketing manager Anusha Timol said trading hours had been extended to help spread the crowds.
“The mezzanine parking levels will be closed to vehicles to accommodate the overflow of crowds,” she said.
General manager of Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Feysel Potgieter, said some tenants also advertised their Black Friday deals online. “Our Covid-19 precautions are in place and we will have additional staff on duty to augment security and protocols.”
Epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist Professor Salim Abdool Karim said one of the biggest challenges in the fight against Covid-19 was super-spreader events, where just one person who is infected is exposed to many people in one go.
These events have occurred in bars, choirs, churches and events where people congregate without social distancing and masks.
“If Black Friday leads to a situation where shops are unable to ensure social distancing and the wearing of masks it may result in the spread of the virus,” said Abdool Karim.
He urged shoppers to practise Covid-19 safety measures while in stores, including wearing masks, sanitising and maintaining social distance.
Professor Thumbi Ndung’u, who specialises in immunology at UKZN, said: “In large gatherings such as Black Friday sale events, people are likely to ignore or are not able to apply the pillars (to prevent Covid-19 transmission), especially social distancing. Therefore, the likelihood of disease transmission will likely increase.”
IOL