Private shopping, online sales and face masks: Black Friday in a pandemic

Social distancing markers and face masks will be as customary as doorbuster deals this Black Friday, as retailers in Delaware look to salvage some holiday business while keeping their customers and employees safe.

Through eight months of the pandemic, stores have learned how to operate within the confines of the state's restrictions, which reduce capacity to 60% and require plexiglass barriers and spacing in checkout lines.

So far, some businesses have been able to replace reduced foot traffic with increased online sales, curbside pickup and delivery. But the largest test is yet to come: Can their new tactics sustain business during the ever-important holiday shopping season?

"We’re really trying to adapt to the concerns of COVID while also keeping momentum and the festive nature of the holidays," said Sissy Aerenson, owner of Peter Kate, a boutique in Concord Pike's Fairfax Shopping Center. "That’s kind of the shining star of the year. I’m unsure what to predict."

Despite the virus's recent surge across Delaware, store operations have remained largely unaffected since reopening in June. When the state cracked down on restaurants and private gatherings last week, it didn't issue any new restrictions for stores.

None of the 13 penalties issued by the Division of Public Health for violations of COVID-19 restrictions have been given to retailers.

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For those who made it through the 10-week period at the start of the pandemic when stores were closed entirely, sales have started to rebound. Across the country, retail sales were up 8.5% in October over the previous year, according to the Commerce Department. Overall sales were relatively steady compared to September and August.

Of course, those months have also revealed several vacancies on Main Streets in places like Newark and Middletown and in downtown Wilmington.

"It's as striking as it appears," Mark Ryski, founder and CEO of Headcount Corp., a company that analyzes retail traffic, said last month. "What we're seeing is a dramatic acceleration of trends that were substantially already underway."

Big-box stores such as Target and Walmart are still reporting declining foot traffic, but have mitigated losses through increased use of delivery and curbside pickup. Their digital operations were already optimized to make the pivot, positioning them to take an even larger market share, experts say.

More traditional department stores and mall-based retailers, many of which including J.C. Penney and Lord and Taylor have already filed for bankruptcy, are pivoting less successfully. When Macy's reported last week sales were down 23%, it qualified as a pleasant surprise to retail observers.

"If you're now just figuring out how to do it, you're so far behind the curve, you're going to struggle like hell," Ryski said.

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The months of November and December account for the highest percentage of yearly sales for most shops. Because they are under government restrictions and people may be hesitant to visit in-person, the country's largest retailers are stringing out Black Friday as long as possible, offering several days of sales available in-store or online.

"There's been a massive push by retailers to put these sales online as kind of a workaround to COVID-19," says Jon Vincent, who tracks the holiday shopping season at earlyblackfriday.com.

Instead of using steep discounts on items like televisions and appliances to reel shoppers into their stores, retailers will instead bombard your virtual shopping cart with offers for add-ons, warranties and other related items, Vincent said.

Most national retailers will be closed on Thanksgiving, ending a yearslong trend of stores opening for Black Friday sales earlier on the holiday itself.

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Although the days of eager shoppers plowing over one another in the wee hours of the morning are long gone, Vincent says the shopping event is still "super popular," noting his site, which aggregates Black Friday ads, has seen record traffic.

To capitalize after several empty weeks earlier this year, local retailers are also making changes. Several stores in the state, including Wilmington's Al's Sporting Goods and Spaceboy Clothing, are offering free shipping.

At Peter Kate, shoppers can schedule a time to shop the boutique by themselves to experience the uniqueness and personalized service of a local business while mitigating safety risks.

“We’ve kind of powered through between our website and delivery, but with the cold weather and the increase in COVID we felt it was a good time to open for private shopping," Aerenson said. "People don't stop celebrating."

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Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @holveck_brandon.