Shoppers rushing to stores don’t plan a large banquet table – some lack control

The mood of the shoppers in Vilnius stores is sad. People are comforted: far fewer people will gather at the table than they would like.

“As we will only be alone with my husband, he is very modest and we only eat little so as not to leave food for a long time,” said the woman.

“You see, the two of us, my wife and I don’t need a lot of food there,” said another customer.

Others have argued that this year your Easter table will be no different than it was in the past, no more modest or heavier. People interviewed say it takes longer to shop before the holidays. Retail chains promise to regulate customer flows before the holidays, but some shoppers lack control. Delphi Photographers on Friday afternoon recorded how lines were already forming at stores.

“People rush to buy, not just before the holidays, it is always like that. Of course, next time and here there is a security guard, let in one by one, count how many people are in the store, often regulate , but today I don’t regulate ”, says a buyer.

“There has to be more people at the box office, because there is a line of people from beginning to end. Here I think it is abnormal. This is not the case here, ”said another.

“Well look, it’s full, I’m already trying to get there as early as possible in the morning, I’m out of work, but here, look at me, the passages are all full,” said the third.

Other accepted buyers also said that people are not safe and “get on each other” and that traffic is high both in the morning and at night.

The order of the stores is not only supervised by the personnel who work in them. Passing police officers can also visit this place.

“If it is seen that there is a security guard or other administrative employee who is obviously verifying that he is verifying access, monitoring if the person entering is wearing masks, etc., generally the police do not need to intervene. completely uncontrolled and free, no one is looking if the entrants are wearing masks, then, as a general rule, then the police come in ”, commented Arūnas Paulauskas, Deputy Commissioner General of Police.

Merchants encourage people to plan their purchases responsibly and comply with safety requirements. Delphi Remember that none of the major retail chains will be open on Sunday. You can read more about business hours here.

Retailers: buyers started preparing earlier

Retailers say the pandemic has fundamentally changed shopper habits and they have been preparing for the Easter holidays earlier. As a result, no significant increase in customer traffic was observed. They also point out that as the number of customer visits decreases, the shopping cart increases.

Vaida Budrienė Elta, a spokesperson for the retail chain Iki, told Eltai that Easter had once again shown that the habits of shoppers in Lithuania had changed significantly.

“In fact, people behave the same as last Christmas: they started preparing for the celebrations much earlier. In general, shopper habits have changed, they visit stores less often but buy more.

The exact same thing happened with the holidays. In the past, our buyers could be called last minute buyers, but now that is certainly not the case. “The pandemic changed its habits after all, and the Easter shopping, at least registered on the Iki network, started more than two weeks ago,” he said.

“In fact, flows have increased … but not as drastically as before,” added V. Budrienė.
Meanwhile, comparing the pre-Easter retail chain sales before Easter to the COVID-19 unaffected Easter in 2019, V. Budrienė believes that demand for goods will remain similar.

“If we compare it with 2019, we see that sales will be very similar. Although we will celebrate very little, in families, it is almost the only way for people to celebrate, ”he said.

Darius Ryliškis, spokesman for the Norfa retail chain, also spoke with the Iki representative and told him that this Easter period, compared to 2019, is expected to increase the turnover.

“We believe that sales will be slightly higher than in 2019. The income of the population is growing every year, they are spending a little more, so we think that we will also spend a little more during Easter. However, there will be no changes dramatic, “he said.

Meanwhile, when assessing customer flow in the pre-holiday period, D. Ryliškis noted that customers still tend to limit their visits to supermarkets due to the announced quarantine.

“Compared to normal days, yes, flows always increase before the holidays, but there are no management problems. Under quarantine conditions, people go to stores less often and buy more,” he said.

Ernesta Dapkienė, director of Maxima’s Communication and Image Department, told Eltai that increased customer flows have been observed in recent weeks.

“The quarantine has taught shoppers to plan their purchases, which is why we have been watching people buy in advance for Easter since last week. (…) Still, the Easter trade and the flow of buyers this year compared to the pre-pandemic of 2019. During the Easter period, it is more than a fifth less. However, these days we pay special attention to monitoring customer flows and adhere to a control stricter hygiene, ”said E. Dapkienė.

According to a Maxima representative, although the shopping basket is growing, customer visits to supermarkets are increasingly rare.

“Currently, the average shopping cart is 36 percent higher compared to 2019. During quarantine, people visit stores less often, but at the same time buy more food and other essentials to make them last longer. time ”, he emphasized.

“A survey of loyal Maxima customers shows that 47 per cent. Respondents plan to allocate from 51 to 100 euros for the festive Easter table this year. 27 percent of buyers anticipate a budget of 21 to 50 euros, about 13 percent. Plans to allocate from 101 to 150 euros “, – revealed E. Dapkienė.

For her part, Renata Keršienė, a public relations representative for the Rimi retail chain, told Eltai that only a slightly higher flow of customers had been observed in recent days.

“During the first four days of this week, the flow of customers in the Rimi chain stores was slightly higher than in the previous weeks. Consequently, there was no need to regulate the flow of customers in the stores until this morning, but we are ready for that, ”he said.

“Compare the first four days of Easter this week with 2019. In a similar period, the number of buyers did not return to the pre-pandemic level,” added R. Keršienė.