Clampdown on panic buying
|Published
RETAILERS are battling to meet demand. Dis-chem shelves, above, are emptied of hand sanitisers, surgical gloves and masks amid fears of a possible lockdown due to Covid-19. Tracey Adams African News Agency (ANA) RETAILERS are battling to meet demand. Dis-chem shelves, above, are emptied of hand sanitisers, surgical gloves and masks amid fears of a possible lockdown due to Covid-19. Tracey Adams African News Agency (ANA)
Retailers have begun to take extreme measures to curb panic buying and prevent shoppers from emptying the shelves.
This week saw a mad dash across the country for hand sanitisers, toilet paper and tinned food as South Africans came to grips with self-isolation and the growing possibility of a shutdown.
Makro announced that it would limit the number of shoppers at a time “in the interest of you and your health. This is in line with the ideals of social distancing in order to reduce the spread of the virus.”
Clicks was one of the first
retailers to limit the quantity of items a customer may purchase. Clicks chief commercial officer Rachel Wrigglesworth said: “In response to the unprecedented demand and to help give everyone access to essentials, we are limiting products to six items per customer. This is on all our front-shop products including hand sanitisers, toilet paper, vitamins, children’s medicine and pain relief.”
Shoprite is limiting shoppers to only three items per person at checkout.
Shoprite confirmed that “demand has increased for sanitary (including toilet paper), hygiene and baby products, dry pasta, UHT milk, tinned foods, immune boosters and vitamins”.
But the retailer would not be drawn on exact sales volumes.
People are encouraged to wash and sanitise their hands. File photo
Dis-Chem has also implemented limitations on products and confirmed that after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement last weekend, their sales spiked.
In a statement, Dis-Chem said it had seen a steady increase in
the sale of health supplements, as
well as hygiene and medical care products since the outbreak.
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) and the Consumer Goods Council met with all major retailers and the Department of Trade and Industry this week to caution against excessive price hikes on items such as face masks, hand sanitisers and gloves.
While all the retailers committed to fair pricing, the Progressive Professionals Forum urged shoppers to lodge formal complaints when they saw retailers hiking prices.
“The South African government has declared excessive pricing on goods such as surgical masks, hand sanitisers, disinfectant cleaners, etc, illegal. Any retailer that hikes the price of these items unduly could be fined up to R1 million or given up to 12 months’ imprisonment,” said forum president Kashif Wicomb.
If anyone has a complaint about excessive price increases, they can contact the NCC at 0800 014 880
to report these cases.