Coronavirus: Panic-buying has given way to 'eerie' supermarkets - what's next?
Wednesday, 8 April 2020
Who would have thought, three months ago, that a trip to the supermarket could be the highlight of many people's weeks?
That people would post their 'grocery shopping' outfits on social media and wait in line for hours, carefully standing two metres apart, to even be allowed in the door.
But the supermarket world changed on February 28, when New Zealand revealed it had its first coronavirus case, Countdown spokeswoman Kiri Hannifin says. And in some ways, it may never go back to exactly how it used to be.
Hannifin, who is Countdown's general manager, corporate affairs, quality, safety and sustainability, said, from that Friday 'we've had an experience like we've never seen before'.
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'We saw Kiwis shop at levels that were enough to feed, on some days, 10 million Kiwis. That's over double our population, on one day, just for Countdown.'
On March 23, two days before New Zealand went into level four lockdown, Paymark reported that $111 million was spent on food and liquor purchases, two-and-a-half times the amount processed on the same day the year before. Photos of empty shop shelves were everywhere. Toilet paper virtually became a currency overnight.
Hannifin said Countdown had some idea what was coming from observing the Chinese experience. 'But it took our breath away. Since the lockdown, it's been a different feeling. It's been steady demand, higher than usual but not at panic levels.'
Countdown has implemented limits on the number of items that customers can buy, and Hannifin said the mad rush had been replaced by an eeriness as people kept their distance in stores, did not talk and shopped quickly.
Hannifin said Countdown had 100,000 new applications for online shopping last week and 60 per cent were for its priority service, for people over 70 and those with health conditions that made them vulnerable.
On Thursday, 91 per cent of the online orders being processed were going to priority customers.
Hannifin said she understood why people would feel frustrated at not being able to access their normal delivery spots. 'We're doing our best. In a normal day in a normal year we would do 7000 orders a day, it's 11,000 now.'
MESSAGING MISFIRE
Sommer Kapitan, a senior marketing lecturer at AUT, said the supermarkets and Government could have inadvertently helped to feed the shopping frenzy early on.
'As Kiwis first began to face the arrival of Covid-19 to our shores in late February, the messaging from media, Government, and supermarkets was plain: Don't panic buy. Our TV news, the pictures in the papers and on social media were full of long lines and frantic-looking shoppers will full carts.
'From a behaviour perspective, that does two things – first, it constantly reminds people that others are buying a lot. Second, it prompts the perception of scarcity and limitation that is a psychological trigger that drives over-consumption and mass purchasing as a result.
'Also, telling someone what not to do only increases the availability of that concept in their mind. There's no alternative, there's only a negative framing.'
The more recent shift to implore us to 'shop normally' might have helped, she said.
'Those magic words became a mantra. It gave us something we could do, proactively, and a way of behaving that lifted the worry. Panic buying is associated with scarcity and limitations. Shopping normally telegraphs that we can and should expect normal supply and normal prices at the supermarkets. The word panic is removed from our shopping. Now on media we see orderly, calm lines outside supermarkets.'
LASHING OUT
But while those lines might be calm, the same cannot be said for every customer. Hannifin said staff were being subjected to 600 per cent more abuse at present than at the same time last year.
'Everyone is stressed and anxious and the only place they can articulate that is in the supermarket. Our team just deserves kindness and respect. It's not their fault there's no flour or empty shelves. None of this is their fault. It's how we've behaved, how we've shopped. But every day they've come to work to want to serve.'
Countdown has given staff a 10 per cent pay rise during the lockdown.
Hannifin said the team was 'tired but very proud to be considered an essential workforce'.
'I say that with a sad heart because supermarket workers are often overlooked. People go in, get what they need and don't think about the people who get food into the shop or serve you on the way out. They all have families, lives, education, hopes and dreams. But they're often not seen.'
Worried supermarket workers and their families, who did not want to be identified, have shared their concerns with Stuff, too.
Some said they were struggling to get masks and were being told they were 'low risk'.
'I don't see any of the main management out of company working down with us as they sit in their homes,' one wrote. 'How about they get the wives to work on checkout and the men to work stocking shelves with equipment that they have supplied us which is none?'
Another said staff were being told to wash their hands but were struggling to get the breaks to do so. One woman said she was worried about her mother becoming sick through her work at the supermarket.
Foodstuffs said it was implementing safety measures for staff: 'Each of our stores are also implementing a range of additional measures to support the elimination of Covid-19. These measures vary from store to store and include: wipes for hands and trolleys, disinfecting trolley handles for every use, face masks and gloves for staff who want to wear them, plastic protective screens at checkout and between checkout - plus we are encouraging the use of contactless payment and customers packing their own bags.'
ESSENTIAL SERVICE
Supermarkets have been designated an essential service for the lockdown and allowed to continue to trade, albeit with some extra safety measures in place.
That designation has put the spotlight on their prices. Allegations they were charging more to maximise profits during the rush flew so fast that the Government set up an email address to receive complaints about price gouging. Thousands have come in so far.
University of Auckland head of marketing Bodo Lang said it had been difficult for the public to understand, but the halt on discounting was the right decision for the time. He said there had been no sign overall that grocery prices had risen.
'It would have been irresponsible to feed demand by saying '20 per cent off' or 'buy-one-get-one-free' when you're dealing with pressure in the supply chain. It was a hard call but the right one.'
But he said having left supermarkets as the primary grocery option for the lockdown created problems.
'A whole economy of small businesses will have fallen over. From a supermarket perspective, and this is not their making, but it is basically like an incredible present, an unintended consequence of allowing supermarkets to open and not much else – the government has eradicated virtually all competition for supermarkets.
'That's difficult to deal with in a country where grocery prices are high already and we have a duopoly. That, to me, is something that nobody has talked about.'
He said supermarkets would have made record profits during this period of intense trading.
In the year to March 2019, Foodstuffs North Island made $289.7 million in operating profit. Its South Island stores made $104.9m. Countdown made $296m to June 30.
LONG-TERM CHANGE
Some things may never go back to how they were before Covid-19 hit.
Chris Wilkinson, of First Retail Group, said some of the people now online shopping would never have done so before but would now realise how easy it was.
People were shopping less frequently but buying more when they did. That was likely to remain a trend for some time as shoppers sought to minimise the time they spent in crowded areas, he said.
'Consumers will be more purposeful and prepared ahead of their shop and there will be less of the social interaction that has increasingly characterised grocery shopping environments in recent years.
'We know that consumers have embraced cooking from scratch, baking, 'rediscovering' the enjoyment of preparing meals and looking after those around them. Given the length of time in lockdown that will drive a lot of transformational behaviour, with these practices remaining for some time. That will see supermarkets further focus on satisfying shoppers' culinary and creative appetites through inspiring recipe ideas and products.'
Kapitan said the experience might change the way some New Zealanders thought about supermarkets altogether.
'For a long time to come, supermarket workers will be seen as essential by all sectors of society. Suddenly they are our lifelines. Suddenly the essential role of the supermarket is clear to all Kiwis, as a connection to our needs in each of our bubbles, as a community hub, as suppliers of key necessary goods.
'Popping up to the shops has always been part of daily life. Now that it is the only part of daily life that is still accessible to us, we can see that the friendly, hardworking members of our community are making so much possible for the rest of us. We will all trust our supermarkets now more than ever before. We trust them to clean, organise, distribute, and supply all our needs.
'That is a huge role. We can expect a boost in brand loyalty to the stores we rely on during this time. From a grocer perspective, however, that means it might be even harder in the coming years to attract or convert new consumers. Consumers who form an emotional attachment to their preferred store might be slightly less price sensitive and continue to frequent their local and preferred supermarket despite innovations and changes that might normally attract them to a new shopping locale.'
Hannifin said even when the country was out of level four, supermarkets would have to double down on hygiene and distancing policies to help avoid a recurrence.
The chain was aware of it position as one of the few places people were able to congregate. 'We are really conscious of what it means when we smile at customers. We want people to feel good, like things are normal… it's a really emotional place to be, which is a funny thing to say about supermarkets.'
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