The biggest Shopping day in London has gone quieter than ever in history on Sunday, as the pandemic pushed people to stay at home. Much heavy traffic was expected, but very few people came out of their homes to shop.
One of the shoppers said, “We parked our car near White Oaks Mall. I thought it would be easier for us to walk to best buy and browse here first before we went to the mall, and surprisingly there were plenty of parking spots available there”.
People who came for shopping were limited in stores of Ontario, but still, some people were expecting that they have to wait until early morning to get entry in stores. But many shoppers found themselves without the gatherings and congestion.
“I actually came to get a webcam, and with the larger variants out there now, it’s just preferable to stay at home and have a webcam night,” another customer explained. At the same time, many people prefer to stay at their place and do online shopping. Bruce Winder, a retail expert, said, “it is safer to do online shopping rather than visit the market because of the COVID-19.”
The rise in cases from the omicron variant may have contributed to this week’s high turnout at stores, said Winder. Then he remarked, “This is the best Boxing Day to stay at home and shop online.” However, some people faced shipping delays in their orders.
According to Winder, the major firms are likely to perform pretty well this season because they have inventory. However, small companies can face a tough time because they have that much flexibility and skills to increase their supply chain.
Winder added that it is difficult for us to predict what will happen next year and how next year will look like, as consumers prefer to do online shopping nowadays after the pandemic hit us.
He further added, “People will go back to stores to do the shopping after this all get over because they feel they get more variety of commodities in stores.”
“They got to know about commodities more about their stuff and product, but a lot of people are those who still give preference to e-commerce.”
