Retail return: No sign of nerves among shoppers, Retail NZ

Wednesday, 10 November 2021

A queue builds outside JD Sports Sylvia Park ahead of Auckland's move to level 3, step 2.

Auckland shoppers showed less hesitancy in returning to the malls than had been predicted as life in the city took another step closer to normality with the opening of shops.

“It has been better than we had expected during the course of the day,” said Greg Harford, chief executive of Retail NZ, the business association for shop-owners.

“Customers are feeling secure and safe to get out and about their business.”

After shops opened outside of Auckland in September after lockdown restrictions were eased, it took a few days for shoppers to return to their normal habits, Harford said.

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“When the rest of the country moved from alert level 3 to alert level 2, it took a couple of days for things to warm up,” Harford said.

Dozens wait in line outside Sylvia Park in Auckland ahead of the alert level shift, to stage 2 of alert level 3. One store JD Sports opened at 12.01am, and gaming enthusiasts camped out to wait for the doors to open.

The quicker return for Aucklanders could be a result of their having suffered such a prolonged lockdown, he said.

Electronic payment data, and foot traffic data would not be available for several days, banks, mall managers and payment companies said.

But Linda Trainer, general manager of asset management at Kiwi Property, said foot traffic at its Sylvia Park mall, and the West Auckland Lyn Mall had been good.

“It was a very steady trading day, but there was ample room for people to social distance,” she said.

The malls monitored the number of people entering through its malls' doors, and could limit entries when they were got close to reaching maximum capacity for social distancing, she said.

Masks were being used by shoppers at the Westfield Newmarket mall.

Trainer said the electronic system sent real time alerts when the malls reached 80 and 90 per cent safe capacity, but those limits were not reached at either mall on Wednesday.

“People seemed very calm, and very relaxed to be in the centres. They were very respectful of each other, wearing masks, and giving each other space. It was really good,” Trainer said.

Spotlight stores in Auckland had foot traffic at double the normal level when they reopened on Wednesday.

With shops opening on a working day, and one on which many schools remain closed, leaving parents to home school their children, it was not surprising there had not been a huge rush, she said.

Not all mall stores were open, she said. Some service businesses like hair salons and nail bars could not open, and cafes and restaurants could only operate on a click and collect basis.

Paul Gardner, regional centre experience manager from Scentre Group, which owns the Westfield Mall in Newmarket, said it had “a fantastic day welcoming more customers and businesses back to our Auckland centres”.

Past experience had shown that customers immediately returned to malls when restriction eased, he said.

“We saw this last lockdown and again today as more customers returned eager to get back to the retail experiences they’ve missed. We’re expecting customer visits to continue building throughout the week and across the weekend.”

Some specialist shops had a rush from loyal customers.

Frustrated gardeners rushed into Bunnings keen to get their flower and vege beds planted out having missed so much good growing weather.

“People who are keen gardeners have not had access to stock in many cases,” Harford said. “Obviously, that’s time sensitive. You want to get your tomatoes in quickly.”

Chris Moore, general manager of speciality store chain Spotlight, which provides craft and sewing supplies, was pleased with the level of custom after the prolonged lockdown.

Shoppers had followed Government social distancing and mask mandates, Moore said.