– Sales in December will be historic – E24

In Oslo, the Christmas shopping has already started, and on Friday afternoon several “thirsty” Norwegians lined up in front of Vinmonopolet on Grünerløkka.

Elisabeth Hunter, CEO of Vinmonopolet, thinks this may be a sign that people have listened to her calls to avoid trading during the Christmas rush.

– We have encouraged our customers to buy earlier this year and also to come early in the week and early in the day to avoid queues, he says.

Figures compiled by Vinmonopolet also show that several customers have chosen to start early with Christmas shopping.

Historical

So far in December, they have had 1.4 million clients nationwide, compared to 1.1 million clients during the same period last year.

This corresponds to a growth of 28 percent so far in December.

– The December sale will be historic for Vinmonopolet, due to border closures and lack of duty-free trade, says Hunter.

She points out that generally the last two weeks before Christmas Eve are the busiest weeks in Vinmonopolet, and that little Christmas Eve is definitely the busiest day of the year.

Therefore, customers are encouraged to listen to Vinmonopolet’s recommendations not to postpone Christmas shopping until December 23.

– It is difficult to say what the next two weeks will be like. Though multiple customers have passed, we’re not sure they’ve eliminated all of the holiday shopping, he says.

– I never had more items in stock

Despite the fact that cross-border trade has stopped abruptly and is tax-free, the CEO announces that customers need not worry about not getting enough products for Christmas.

– We have never had so many items in stock as now, he says.

If, on the other hand, they experience customers crowding in in the last days before Christmas Eve, situations can arise where products are sold out.

– Therefore it is very important that customers buy early if they want to secure their favorite items for Christmas.

New initiative launched during the Christmas season

In addition to encouraging early trade, the wine monopoly has placed security guards at the entrance of its stores, to keep track of the distance between customers and the number of customers within the store.

At the same time, Vinmonopolet has recently launched a “semaphore” in its application and on its website.

This is a new measure that will help customers to map when there are at least people in the store, to avoid long lines during Christmas shopping.

– We are very excited about what customers think about this scheme and have only received positive feedback so far, says Hunter.

In addition, he notes that there is a fast queue at some of Oslo’s large stores, such as Grünerløkka, so he advises customers to withdraw to stores that normally have fewer lines.

It would have been demanding to extend the opening hours

On Wednesday morning, FHI proposed to extend the opening hours of the stores and Vinmonopolet until Christmas, to avoid large-scale actions and pressure on the stores.

Health Minister Bent Høie, on the other hand, thought this would not be possible.

– What could have been relevant is keeping the stores open on December 27 as well. For Vinmonopolet, the opening hours are regulated by law, so it is not possible to change them, Høie explained.

The head of Vinmonopolet agrees with the Minister of Health and points to greater pressure on stores if opening hours were extended.

– We’ve been planning staffing over the holiday season since August, and it would have been more demanding to change them now, he says.

At the same time, he believes that Vinmonopolet has succeeded in complying with infection control measures within normal opening hours and therefore does not need further action.