Boxing Day sales bring out bargain hunters
With precautions in place, shoppers still venture out in search of a big deal
As Uday Peddakotla waited in line outside the Best Buy in Beacon Hill on Saturday morning, he said he felt confident that health precautions being taken by customers and staff alike would justify his venture out in search of Boxing Day deals.
Peddakotla had planned to buy a vacuum cleaner and an air fryer, but said shopping in person at the northwest location was simply more advantageous than searching for the right price online, even as COVID-19 has turned the annual holiday-turned-commercial bonanza upside down in 2020.
“You get more choice to select,” he said, adding it's just not the same trying to choose what to buy when you can only “see it in a system.”
“I think they're taking all the precautions for COVID, like the two metres distance, maintaining it ( between customers).”
Public health restrictions in Alberta limit the number of instore customers at retail locations. Stores can only allow 15 per cent of usual fire code occupancy, not including staff.
Shopping mall capacity limits of 15 per cent include common areas and individual stores. The province also encourages curbside pickup, delivery and online shopping when possible.
“Shop alone if possible or only with the people you live with,” it states online.
By noon, there were more than 20 people or small groups lined up waiting to get into the northwest Best Buy store.
“I had a couple questions, I wanted to have a chat with one of their specialists,” said Jack Smith, who purchased a printer.
“They answered my questions. I guess I'm a bit old school that way.”
A survey conducted this fall by the Retail Council of Canada showed Canadians planned to spend a similar percentage of their holiday budgets on Boxing Day as they did last year.
A separate poll by RedflagDeals.com found an overwhelming majority of Canadian shoppers planned to shop more online this holiday season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around 94 per cent indicated they would take their business to web checkout pages, with nearly four in five Canadians saying that in-person shopping was more stressful due to crowds, limited inventory and pandemic-related concerns.
About 88 per cent responded that they would research online before going in-store to make purchases.
But crowding this Boxing Day was still a concern elsewhere in Calgary, forcing some locations to adjust their protocols on the fly.
Crossiron Mills mall was “experiencing high volumes of customer traffic,” it posted to Twitter just after 12:30 p.m.
“As a result, and keeping with our COVID-19 safety measures, please be aware that exterior lineups will be implemented.”
University of Calgary public health specialist Dr. Sajjad Fazel said he doesn't expect Boxing Day shopping will lead to an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the weeks to come, due to Alberta's strong restrictions.
But he cautioned in-person shopping is still a risk likely not worth taking, given current levels of spread.
“Once you step outside your house, you're at risk,” Fazel said.
“The best thing for anyone to do at this point in time is online shopping. That's the safest option there is.
“We are in a pandemic situation. The cases are pretty high.”
Andrew Green, who bought a new television at Best Buy on Saturday morning, opted for curbside pickup after picking out the product online.
“It's safer for me and safer for everybody else,” he said.