South Africa - Cape Town - 18 MArch 2020 - Pick N Pay opened a hour earlier at 7 specifically for the elderly to shop. It may not have been a good idea as everyone we spoke to had complaints about empty shelves and high prices. Picture Courtney Africa/African News Agency (ANA)

South African retailer Pick n Pay has said that they have been preparing for the Covid-19 outbreak in South Africa for weeks and have assured their customers that they are doing all they can to help protect their staff and customers from the virus. 

Pick n Pay said in a statement, " All our actions are geared to supporting the health and well-being of our customers and staff.  We are following the guidance provided by the Presidency, the advice of the South African Department of Health and the expert guidance issued by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).   We have been preparing for the coronavirus for some weeks, working closely with our suppliers to make sure we have stocks in our stores and that customers can get what they want and need. Customers should be assured that we have a very good relationship with our suppliers, and that we will have stocks available in our stores."

On stock piling, Pick n Pay said that their customers have been buying responsibly for the most part, stocking up on what they usually buy. 

"Understandably, as they read and act on the advice they are receiving, they are buying more household cleaning and personal hygiene products, and dry groceries, and we’ve seen demand for these products increase over the past week.  We would like to encourage our customers to continue shopping responsibly. Where stocks are temporarily low due to heavy customer demand, we will be limiting the number of certain products per customer." 

Pick n Pay that the limits on certain products will have signage in-store and online will guide them on what these are. 

The retailer also said that they would not be increasing the prices of the key products.

Pick n Pay said that they have seen an increase in their online purchasing in the past ten days. 

"Our online service is operating effectively. Our technology systems are more than able to cope with increased activity online."  

To help combat the spread of Coronavirus, Pick n Pay have put in place precautionary safety measures including:

Advising our customers and staff on effective hygiene measures including frequent and proper hand washing.
Making hand sanitiser more available for customers and staff in our stores.
Devoting more time and resources to make the cleaning regimes in our stores even more rigorous, including sanitizing all till points throughout the day.
Sanitizing trolley wipes will continue to be available at store entrances, and trolleys frequently deep cleaned and sanitised.
Our self-service and open fresh departments, such as bakery items, will be temporarily pre-packaged and a staff member will be available to serve customers.
Working closely with shopping centre landlords to ensure they put additional hygiene measures in place.

Article source:  https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/companies/pick-n-pay-sees-an-increase-in-online-orders-in-the-past-10-days-45120264