Supermarket shopping back to normal… almost

Tuesday, 9 June 2020

An inside look into Countdowns first dedicated online store in Penrose Auckland.

Supermarkets are adjusting to life at level 1 – but don't expect everything about your shopping experience to go back to normal.

Some things will change immediately at Countdown, New World and Pak'n Save stores.

The number of customers will no longer be limited, checkouts will be open as required and normal shopping hours will resume.

Customers can use BYO containers, reusable bags and reusable coffee cups again and physical distancing won't be needed. At New World stores, bag-packers will be back at checkouts.

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You won't see this at supermarkets any longer.

But supermarkets will still offer hand sanitiser, and encourage customers to use it before they shop, and the screens set up at checkouts will remain for now.

Countdown general manager of health and safety Kiri Hannifin said it was a return to pre-Covid, with additional hygiene measures.

“For the most part, shopping in our stores will very much feel like things are back to how they were before, and customers will be able to pop in and out of our stores quickly whenever they need to top up on their groceries – we’ll be packing bags again for our customers if they would like us to; people can BYO bags for pick up, all our self-checkouts will be open, and queuing controls outside the store will no longer be needed,” she said.

Chief executive of Foodstuffs North Island Chris Quin said the past couple of months had been challenging.

'Our team and our supplier partners battled with pressures on key products like hand sanitiser and toilet paper in February, and then yeast and flour flew off the shelves in March as New Zealanders discovered their inner baker, and throughout lockdown we had to manage stringent physical distancing measures and limit numbers in store, all of which posed a unique challenge for store teams.

'But thanks to our customers, we navigated this hardship together and have come out on the other side stronger and wiser. Thank you to every New Zealander for the positive role you played throughout this crisis, and thank you to our suppliers for partnering and rolling their sleeves up to assure New Zealanders had what they needed for their families.”