Stocks are overflowing in stores, employees are in the starting blocks.
The businesses are impatiently waiting for Emmanuel Macron to announce the date of their reopening, November 28, they hope.
To raise the curtain, they agreed to postpone Black Friday, this promotional time that usually takes place the last weekend in November, for a week.
They also pledged to strengthen the sanitary measures applied in stores.
But they are more than ever asked to show flexibility: the health protocol, developed with the brands and presented on Friday at Bercy, is still waiting to be definitively validated.
It should be on Wednesday.
"
It is complicated to implement assumptions
», Sighs Emmanuel Le Roch, the general delegate of the specialized trade federation, Procos.
Read also: The store race against time to save Christmas
The stores are preparing despite everything, as best they can, based on the measures already presented by Bercy.
Most of them (the presence of hydroalcoholic gel or the tracing of a direction of movement on the ground) were already in force before the businesses closed, and do not require any particular adaptation.
The one that will require the most effort is the decrease in the number of customers in the stores.
The “gauge” will change from a customer for 4 m2 to a customer for 8 m2.
Customer control and counting will be mandatory for stores over 400 m2.
"
Many brands were already practicing this counting, if only to have proof that the right number of customers is not exceeded,
" explains Emmanuel Le Roch.
Those that do not will have to invest in a counting system or devote part of their staff to this task.
Fall in sales expected
The hardening of this gauge will not be without impact on the activity.
“
Half the number of customers in the stores, this will inevitably harm sales
,” deplores William Koeberlé, the president of the French Commerce Council.
This will be particularly penalizing for small stores
,
but we have no choice, we will submit to it
”.
Some brands estimate that they could lose 15% to 20% of turnover because of this new gauge which will force customers to wait outside during peak periods, at noon and at weekends.
To ensure that the flow of customers is as distributed as possible, the toy brands have, for example, come together to offer their customers a system for making appointments, optional of course.
"
This way, those who wish will be able to come during the off-peak hours
", explains Romain Mulliez, CEO of PicWicToys.
The businesses hope to be able to compensate for part of this shortfall with a greater working hours.
Few stores are willing to open beyond 8 p.m. or earlier in the morning to spread the flow of customers, because they fear that the latter will not follow.
On the other hand, they hope to be able to open everywhere on Sunday.
This is currently possible in a large number of cities in December.
Each mayor has a contingent of opening Sundays: the 12 “Mayor's Sundays”.
They are often granted in December.
But some mayors, especially in the east or west of the country, refuse to allow their businesses to open on Sundays, even during this month of high consumption.
The labor ministry should instruct prefects to widely grant these openings in December and January.
But
"here again, we have no visibility,
" laments Yohann Petiot, from the Alliance du commerce, which represents the major clothing brands.
However, it is necessary to prevent the staff who may have to work from Sunday 29 ...
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