The chaotic holiday shopping season won't exactly be the same this year. And the well-established trend of more transactions moving online is only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic - which has encouraged or forced Americans to buy even everyday necessities from Amazon and other digital-first retailers.
But some level of in-person shopping is not only inevitable - it's good for the economy and good for mental and emotional health at a time when our traditional notion of "normalcy" continues to fade.
Thanksgiving groceries. Christmas shopping. Weekly supply runs or stockpile trips to B.J.'s wholesale club. Chances are you are probably doing one or more of the above.
And as infection rates surge nationwide and state governments from coast to coast gear up for potential winter lockdowns, being a COVID-sensitive shopper is an important consideration when you are in any retail setting - from the corner convenience store to a big-box chain.
Ask yourself these questions to keep your behaviors in check as you head out to pump cash into the economy:
- Do I know my objective for this trip? - Window shopping, aimless browsing and all-around retail meandering is not ideal as more communities hit the red zone every week. Have an objective and stick to it: Buying groceries for the week; Getting a certain gift you have researched in advance; Restocking the toilet paper and other high-demand necessities. Yes - shopping is an activity that we do for fun and to spend some time out and about. But being purposeful is the best practice right now.
- Am I protecting myself and those around me? - Yes, that means wearing a mask! Look at it this way: it is simply a common courtesy and a gesture that tells others you are serious about protecting them as well as yourself. And in more and more places every day - it is required! Certainly inside a store or other place of business you should never expect that you can enter without a mask. Not right now. Leave the debates and the protests at the door, and be a respectful customer by wearing the mask.
- Am I getting too close? - Social distancing inside a store is not that hard. In fact - it's pretty easy. Just be mindful of where you are and where you are headed, and be extra aware of your surroundings and the people near you. Respect and follow any one-way lines or other directional guides established by the merchant. Avoid brushing up against other shoppers or "squeezing in" just to grab something quick. A few extra seconds won't hurt - and you might just avoid a confrontation.
- Am I minding my own business? - Leave it to the store personnel to enforce rules and guidlines. It can be frustating for sure when you see another shopper not wearing a mask or crowding other people or ignoring every directional sign. But confronting them or scolding them openly almost always leads to conflict, escalated levels of stress and sometimes even explosive situations. If you can quietly alert personnel to a bad situation, that's fine. Something really egregious or dangerous, of course, can be treated like any other emergency. The common discourtesies people are experiencing - and that you are trying to avoid committing yourself - are simply just that: discourteous behavior that you should try to steer clear of.
- Am I lingering too long and handling too many items? - American shoppers have some pretty typical behaviors. One of them is touching just about everything they might consider buying and even things they have no intention of purchasing. Try to curb that habit during the COVID-19 crisis and only pick up what you plan to take away for purchase. Excessive handling of items is not ideal where many people may be touching the same things. It also contributes to shoppers spending more time in a store than is necessary to fulfill "the objective" of the trip.