Black Friday a damp squib in the Cape

Access Park saw long winding queues of people outside Levi's Outlet Store, Reebok and Nike entrance doors. Picture Tracey Adams/ African News Agency (ANA)

Access Park saw long winding queues of people outside Levi's Outlet Store, Reebok and Nike entrance doors. Picture Tracey Adams/ African News Agency (ANA)

Published Nov 28, 2020

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GAMEEMA SALIE

Cape Town - Some South Africans braced long queues and crowded spaces in search Black Friday deals amid a rising number of Covid-19 cases.

The annual event, which usually draws a massive crowd in a manic shopping spree experience, left a lot of South Africans taking a safer route to get their deals online.

Marketing manager at Toys R Us and Babies R Us South Africa Catherine Jacoby, said Black Friday was a much-anticipated day of the year and a great opportunity for people to save big on their Christmas shopping.

“We have kept our customers’ safety at the forefront of the event and have ensured all the safety protocols have been followed as well as encouraging customers to shop online,” Jacoby said.

Jacoby said the online response was amazing and exceeded their expectations with more customers opting for a safer route by shopping from the comfort of their home.

“There has still been a great turnout at stores with queues since early hours of the morning and it’s been good to see people following and respecting Covid-19 safety protocols in our stores,” Jacoby said.

Senior vice-president for corporate affairs at Massmart, Brian Leroni, said Makro and Game have been running an extended Black Friday programme which had the benefit of spreading Black Friday shopper traffic over an extended four-week period rather than concentrating it into four days.

Leroni also said there has been a notable increase in click-and-collect orders.

“We have perfected social distancing protocols over the past months and are satisfied that customers have been able to shop our stores safely during our extended Black Friday promotion.

“Our queue marshals have provided feedback that customers have been patient, and have willingly maintained social distance with little intervention from the queue marshals,” Leroni said.

Leroni said customers made good use of their online opportunities and their online systems have operated well without incident.

Chief executive at FNB Card Chris Labuschagne said: “We encourage customers to opt for convenient and safer ways to shop during Black Friday in line with Covid-19 safety guidelines.

“More importantly, many local retailers have begun offering Black Friday specials much earlier than usual to improve the shopping experience for consumers.

“We also encourage customers to use trusted platforms when shopping online and remind everyone to always keep information such as PINs and passwords safe and to only authenticate transactions they have initiated.”

Weekend Argus

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