To ask your experiences of shopping in town now

[SodOffCovid]

Am planning on going into town tomorrow to return somethinf and hopefully get some bits for my son (he isn't coming). What's it really like now? Are the queues really as horrendous as made out for primark, h&m, tiger tiger...

That sounds similar to Bluewater.

I’m really confused why people (not just you Persona) insist that having to use hand sanitiser and keep a bit of distance destroys all the fun. I get fun from the people I’m with and from delicious food and drinks.

To answer your question - environment and atmosphere are absolutely critical to consumer satisfaction and willingness to spend. That’s why huge amounts of money are spent by retailers or restauranteurs on ‘customer experience’.

Masks, hand sanitizer, social distancing are a reminder of all the things people are trying to forget. No one wants to take Covid-19 to the pub - literally or figuratively. These changes are a reminder that all is not well with the world. They are depressing.

There was hand sanitizer at the door of each shop and the bigger ones had someone there making sure that people used it

I'm not going then. I refuse to support the "it's a virus but you must use antibacterial hand sanitiser" nonsense. I'll wash my hands at home - if that's not good enough I'll stick with online shopping. I have no choice with hairdressers but with shopping I do.

If this carries on we are going to have an even more massive antibiotic resistance problem on our hands.

@SodOffCovid

I'm already looking for Christmas presents, let's face it, it's going to be shite by December

Whaaat?

You're asking about going shopping now? That's bonkers, what are you going to find in the shops in July that you can't get by some other method in the next 6 months. Has lockdown sent you mad

The banks should say sorry to everyone for closing so many branches. The result? Huuuge queues for banks because, actually, people do use real money and DO want to go into their bank.

Haha nope. I'm not planning to buy for christmas i. e no lists but sure as hell will buy a sticking filler if i see one. At the end of the day I will end up spending more on delivery than some of these pocket money type items are worth. So why not?

I went to my local high street on Monday, for the first time since March. It was weird, I went to Wilko (which had been open the whole time I think) - I queued but literally for 5 minutes. I managed to get a few cleaning bits but the stock seemed quite bare, and I overhead a staff member saying they had struggled to keep up with demand.

Popped into a few clothes shops but the fitting rooms were closed.

Some shops weren’t open - Paperchase, Office, and a few of the independent ones.

The biggest queues were for the banks.

There seemed to be varying degrees of social distancing. Some shops like Scope the charity shop were very strict - only two people at a time, must use the hand gel as you went in. But others didn’t seem to have any guidelines, although none of them were heaving. I avoided primark.

I wore a mask in each shop as it made me feel more comfortable but most people weren’t. Overall was quite a strange experience, at times it felt almost normal but then I’d catch glimpse of the direction arrows on the floor or see a staff member scrubbing down a shelf and it pulled me back out.

I live in a city and my experience is that most shops are still shut. Of the couple of shops I want to use I've been able to go straight in. I don't think this is a good sign for the economy.

I haven’t been to town yet but locally, there is a large retail park with IKEA, Next, TK Maxx, Wilko, Boots, Decathlon and various generic furniture stores (). We went there yesterday and it was surprisingly ok and no queues and quite chilled out.

No changing rooms but I got a top and some trousers I knew would fit from TK Maxx. You can’t try out lipsticks etc inBoots but other than that things were quite normal.

We wore masks but I would say 90% of people didn’t bother. Hand sanitizer was available but nobody glared at you about it.

Massive queue for Starbucks.

Everywhere has a very staid atmosphere; I personally find that unpleasant & unenjoyable. As we are encouraged to shop alone, the silence is deafening.

As for actual store experience, everywhere was quite relaxed, but like a PP said, the constant reminders to keep your distance do take the joy out of it.

It’s honestly a wonder that anyone went out in public prior to this as everyone has become so utterly risk averse - especially for those whom, statistically, if they were to contract the virus, would only get it mildly.

The fun and spontaneity have been taken out of everything, not to mention how unwelcome children are. I’d love to contribute towards getting the economy up & running, but they’re certainly making it difficult.

Staff get bored of reminding people to about social distancing etc not just customers bored of hearing it

I went Saturday before we were re-locked down. I loved it. Had my headphones in and was able to just calmly make my way round some shops. I'm not keen on trying clothes on in fitting rooms anyway so that wasn't a bother. Hardly anyone was out so no queues anywhere and stores were so nice and quiet. I went early morning just as the shops opened.

I've seen some nice things in h&m depending on how they look on me. Obviously you can't try them on now so I looked at home at my clothes from there to see what size I am there and I've got clothes in extra small, small, 8, 10 and 12!!!
So I've got no idea what size will fit me!!
So annoying

Are you all finding the shelves well stocked?

I’ve only been to a local supermarket and garden centre and found the garden centre quite sparse of stock like they hadn’t retooled since last autumn.

Empty shelves, queues, masks. It feels a bit Soviet.

Retailers are having such a hard time. I hope we conquer the virus very quickly before we forget that shipping could be fun.

I heard about queues for Primark in nearby city, but we don't have one in town.

In general, people in our town are respectful, queuing politely and observing social distance rules. Our town has the lowest infection rate in the county, which is great.

What will be interesting will be when the other shops start re-opening on 4th July.

I'm finding the shops so different, from the staff wearing masks or visors to all the social distancing.
Most staff have been friendly but that's always the case. Every shop is doing their best, in a really tough time.
TBH I don't enjoy shopping now, it gives me a stress headache.

Didn't enjoy it; shops look like jumble sales, feels like they're selling off old stock/end of sale shite. Members of the public getting the hump because they're being told they're walking the wrong way and half the shops still closed (John Lewis etc), this is a big shopping centre. Plus not being able to try things on when you're a weird shape is rubbish! 🤣 Queues much better than anticipated though.

I was in Gap yesterday and there was only one person serving. I was in the middle of the queue of about 10 people. I asked one staff member if they could open more tills and they mumbled something about not having their till pass and walked off. There were at least two other staff members on the shop floor, so it's not like they were short staffed.

Havent been anywhere yet except to Sainsburys and the Garage for fuel.Not shielding just worried! I was thinking about going to Salisbury next week for drive out /look round ,still undecided! If the high street was going downhill before, then this will be its final nail in the coffin surely!

Went to the high street yesterday, was really nervous but am desperate for new walking sandals as my old pair broke and there's not much to do but hill-walking at the moment. I had seen some possible options online but I have a really high instep so wanted to see them in person to gauge whether my feet would fit before buying. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to try on in-store but it was fine. The shop staff were lovely, friendly and accommodating. They wore visors (I was wearing a mask anyway) and I had to sanitise my hands before picking up any shoes. When it came to trying on, I was given pop-socks which I was told to take away and bin when I was finished and the assistant insisted on fitting the shoe on my foot to avoid me touching more than necessary - was a bit like being a child getting fitted for school shoes again.

Feeling more confident, I had a browse round other shops. All had sanitisers at the door and screens around the tills. Most staff were wearing masks - customers were 50/50 on the mask front. To be honest, the main issue was other customers Some people are incredibly self-absorbed. Before going into the shoe shop, I paused at the door to put on my mask. It was bloody obvious that I was about to go in but another couple literally pushed past me to get in ahead of me. They did get a telling off from shop staff though.

I bought something from another shop. There was already someone getting served at the till so I stood a good 2 metres back; again, perfectly obvious I was waiting to pay but another customer came up and stood in between me and the till. I pointed out to her that I was next in the queue and was giving adequate space and she grumped a bit before loving behind me, so close I could feel her breath on my neck. One of the staff noticed and asked her to move back so she started bitching about her human rights and then started complaining that there was only one till open. The manager came over to explain that the two tills were too close to both open safely and that staff were working as quickly as possible to minimise queues, at which point the customer threw all her items on the ground and stomped out. Honestly, it's like some people have been living under a rock recently.

I went into town for the first time yesterday.

I didn't wear a mask, was able to keep at least 3 -4m away from everyone else. I didn't queue at all (but I don't like Primark) and found what I was looking for, no problem.

I washed my hands before I left and when I got home. I didn't touch anything except the items I bought.

It was fine, but not 'retail therapy'.

ColdNovemberRain your example about the queue is interesting because I think shops could be doing more to avoid the queues in the first place. For example, if they can only have one till open, why not have another staff member to assist by removing hangers and tags, folding and bagging clothes.

All depends on your attitude really, I work in a shop that asks for fresh gloves to be put on or hand sanitiser to be used on entry, the customers that say no problem and get on with it find they have a lovely time in our shop, and we have had many compliments.
The arrogant ones that have a pathetic hissy fit over a bit of hand gel don't enjoy it so much and ruin it for themselves.
I have been out shopping today, I stayed relaxed, complied with whatever the staff need to do to feel safe, and I really enjoyed it.

@purpledagger

They actually did have all of this. I probably didn't explain it properly. There was one desk with two tills on it. One till had been obviously closed down and the other had a perspex screen in front so it was clear that this was the one in use. There was space to the left of each till which is where the scanning/packing etc would normally happen but what was happening yesterday was that the person manning the till quickly scanned and then put the items to the packing area at the side of the closed till, so there was some distance between the two staff members. One then proceeded with taking payment while the other folded and bagged. The whole experience with the woman in the queue with me took place over very quick period - it really wasn't a long wait at all, she was just clearly spoiling for a fight. it was the staff member folding and packing for the customer in front of me/already at the till, who asked her to move back and when the woman got mardy, she signalled the manager who was manning the sanitiser at the front door.

One thing I will say though is that they could have helpfully marked out where a queue should form.

Obviously, if and as shops get busier, we probably will experience longer waits, even with these measures in place but that's just something we'll have to get used to.