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UNDER LEVEL 5 restrictions, which went into effect earlier this week, all non-essential retailers must close their doors to customers.
For shoppers, that means no searching or testing items by size for the next six weeks.
So retail therapy is out of the question for now, and yet you may have heard that your friends or family who work at certain non-essential retailers (clothing stores, bookstores, or department stores, for example) are still getting it. ask them to come to work.
If you’re wondering if that’s allowed under the current rules, let’s take a look at the situation and what the guidelines say.
What do the rules say?
Released Monday night, the government’s list of essential retailers is available here.
In plain language, it states which stores can remain open to customers during the six-week restriction period aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.
Understandably, it includes stores that sell health, medical or orthopedic items; fuel service stations and heating oil suppliers; pharmacies, chemists, retailers or wholesalers that supply pharmaceutical products; and points of sale of essential items for the health and welfare of animals.
Obviously, supermarkets and outlets that sell take-out food and beverages are also listed.
Builders wholesalers, hardware stores, and merchants can also remain open to customers since construction activity can continue at Level 5.
However, clothing stores, bookstores, garden centers, music stores, and department stores were not on the list.
What else does it say?
Well, there is a difference between this list and the one published by the government in March before the spring close.
Included in the likes of “retail point of sale operating an online or other remote product ordering system for collection purposes.”
It means that clothing stores, bookstores or any other “nonessential retailer” that offers home delivery, “click” or “phone and collect” can, according to the guidelines, continue to operate.
Customers will not be able to enter the store to browse, but they can go to the store to pick up their items.
Essentially, staff can also be asked to report to work normally.
Earlier this week, the Minister of State for Trade, Employment and Commerce, Damien English TD, confirmed the new agreement.
A statement from his department also confirmed that ordering and pick-up from non-essential retailers “can be done within the 5 km limit.”
Is it very different from the March lockdown?
Yes and no.
The March Essential Retailer Guidelines “encouraged” all stores to serve online “where possible.” This, the document said, should be done to “minimize footfall.”
Other than that, there were very few details.
Confusion abounded as to whether that meant nonessential retailers could continue to operate online.
A few weeks after the shutdown, lobbyist Retail Excellence Ireland clarified the situation after receiving a response to its inquiries from the Business Department.
The Department confirmed that non-essential retailers could, in fact, continue to offer online delivery services.
This can only be done under certain conditions; associated administration and processing activities had to be “home-based”; the company must have only a “minimum” number of personnel in place and physical distancing must be “strictly adhered to.”
But stores offering “click or call and collect” services were not mentioned.
So what does all this mean?
On paper, it means that a much wider range of retail outlets can continue to function, albeit without allowing customers to roam the stores.
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Click or call and pick up is much cheaper for businesses to adopt than home delivery, which should allow more of them to adopt it if they haven’t already.
“I would encourage retailers to adopt remote ordering systems, such as click-and-deliver, click-and-cash, or take orders over the phone when possible, to ensure they can continue to operate and continue to work safely, while customers can keep shopping locally with them, ”Damien English said earlier this week.
Most of the main players have already done so and are committed to keeping the service open during Level 5.
Smyths Toys is operating home delivery and click-and-pick services for the next six weeks, as is IKEA.
Dublin-based bookseller Hodges Figgis, owned by UK-based Waterstones, is doing the same.
Brown Thomas and Arnotts, Dublin’s two main department stores, will also remain open for collections.
A spokesperson for Selfridges-owned department stores confirmed in a statement to TheJournal.ie that will remain open to facilitate click and home delivery and collection services.
“According to current government Tier 5 guidelines, some Brown Thomas [and] Arnott team members continue to work safely from our stores, in our distribution center and from home to support our online, click-and-pick and home delivery services, ”the spokesperson said.
“As always, the safety of our equipment is our top priority and we will continue to follow all recommendations from the government and relevant health authorities.”
Like Brown Thomas and Arnott’s, most companies that plan to stay open will not be fully staffed. Many will have reduced the number of employees in the facility at the same time.
And of course, any business that remains open must strictly adhere to the health and safety guidelines posted in the ‘Back to Work’ protocols.
That means physical distance between staff members and also between staff and customers who are picking up your items must be ensured.
It means that records must be kept for the purpose of tracing contacts in the event of an outbreak and that workspaces and surfaces must be cleaned regularly.
Businesses that remain open can be inspected by the Health and Safety Authority, which can then issue ban or upgrade notices if violations are detected.
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