As the return travel wave approaches, supermarkets face a severe epidemic prevention battle.
-01- For physical retail, I've wanted to say something. From a business perspective, in this nationwide battle against the novel coronavirus pneumonia, both mall operators and brand tenants are affected, and times are tough. Supermarkets may be among the few beneficiaries in physical retail, followed by pharmacies. As social commercial service entities vital to residents' basic needs, supermarkets carry the responsibility of supplying families with essential goods like grain, oil, vegetables, rice, and salt... Even in Wuhan, the hardest-hit area, supermarkets must remain open for business. This is society's expectation. Here, besides the frontline medical staff fighting the epidemic, we also salute the frontline supermarket workers! At the same time, many supermarket chains have issued notices: their stores will not raise prices, will not run out of stock, and will not close. In recent days, as the epidemic continues, major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen have seen varying degrees of panic buying. "Even Walmart is out of rice," "China Resources Vanguard has no chili peppers—this is scarier than a typhoon," "I visited several supermarkets and couldn't find a single scallion," "I went out at 7 AM to grab vegetables"... These are common posts on residents' WeChat Moments in several cities. In response to the public's "panic" buying, governments and supermarkets have pledged to increase supply, by 3 times, 5 times... According to the latest news, 302 chain supermarkets in Shenzhen are increasing supply by 10 times the usual amount during the Spring Festival period. On January 28, I saw on WeChat Moments that supermarket vegetable supplies were sufficient and there was no need to hoard. Then I went to the nearest Yonghui Superstore and saw that vegetables, fruits, grain, and oil were adequately stocked. For meat, fresh chicken was plentiful, but pork was limited to a small amount of Yihao Tuhu pork belly, with the rest mainly frozen meat. As the statutory holiday ends and suppliers resume normal delivery, the earlier panic buying of fresh products in supermarkets will be basically resolved.
-02- So, as the third most densely populated public place after hospitals and train stations, how should supermarkets prevent and control the epidemic? What preparations have supermarkets made? Based on publicly available information, here is a preliminary summary of several leading companies.
1. China Resources Vanguard Before the Spring Festival, China Resources Vanguard had already prepared stockpiles of daily necessities such as rice, flour, grain, oil, fresh poultry, frozen poultry, pork, eggs, and vegetables to meet the Spring Festival sales peak. During the epidemic, it activated emergency plans to ensure ample supply. It solemnly promised not to raise prices for masks, disinfectant water, disinfectant liquid, disinfectant wipes, vinegar, etc., and to ensure supply. Due to the epidemic, residents nationwide are reducing or avoiding going out, and many cities have seen stockpiling. Online orders for China Resources Vanguard have surged. It has accelerated the picking and delivery speed for orders on platforms like the China Resources Vanguard APP, JD Daojia, Meituan Waimai, and Ele.me to meet customer needs. In response to the epidemic, China Resources Vanguard has also implemented a series of prevention and control measures, such as increasing the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting shopping carts and baskets; thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting all processing room equipment; adding ventilation equipment and extending operating hours, timely cleaning fresh air filters, and increasing the frequency of fresh air intake to ensure good ventilation in the store; and providing disinfectant hand soap or gel, reminding employees to maintain personal hygiene.
2. Walmart While ensuring employee health and safety, Walmart strictly implements cleaning and disinfection procedures across its more than 400 Walmart stores, community stores, and Sam's Club locations. In accordance with relevant operating standards, it has activated store-wide disinfection measures covering customer-contact areas such as door handles, shopping carts, escalators, checkout counters, freezer handles, store floors, service counters, as well as air conditioning and ventilation systems, processing areas, receiving and office areas. It strives to maintain a healthy and safe store environment. In cities with more severe outbreaks, it strictly follows the requirements and guidelines of relevant government departments. All employees and temporary staff entering work areas must undergo temperature checks before entry, and only those who pass and wear masks can work. At store entrances, dedicated staff remind customers that masks are required to enter. In response to the significant increase in demand for masks, hand sanitizers, and disinfectant products, Walmart has not only increased domestic procurement but also activated cross-border purchasing mechanisms, especially for masks. It has allocated 3M brand N95 masks and adult and child protective masks from its US and Japan subsidiaries, air-freighting them to China via cross-border e-commerce resources, and will soon supply them nationwide on its self-operated e-commerce platform.
3. Yonghui Superstores On January 26, Yonghui Superstores announced that it would actively cooperate with government departments in epidemic prevention and control. At the same time, it promised not to close during the Spring Festival, ensure supply of daily necessities, and not raise prices.
The following are just some announcements or statements from supermarkets: Hema made a "three no's" commitment: no price increases, no stockouts, no closures. ✦ On the supply chain side, "no price increases, no stockouts" mainly for daily necessities like meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, vegetables, and fruits—resolutely no price increases. ✦ It promised "no closures," ensuring that Hema stores remain open every day during the Spring Festival, doing its best to keep shelves full and ensure home delivery and in-store services operate normally.
-03- As the epidemic peak approaches, although the state has extended the Spring Festival holiday, and some regions have further postponed the resumption of work, the return travel wave is still arriving. These returning travelers may avoid gatherings, minimize outings, and self-quarantine at home, but they still need to go to supermarkets to buy basic necessities. Supermarket frontline employees must continue to provide services despite the great risks. Please ensure that all shopping malls implement prevention and control measures such as ventilation and disinfection in public areas, and also do a good job in employee prevention and control, to win this epidemic prevention battle.
Source: Winshang.com