Retailers Push Back Against ‘Non-Essential’ Label Ahead Of Black Friday

Despite a recent surge in coronavirus cases, retailers are fighting for a rework and loosening of shopping restrictions before Black Friday and the holiday season.

Retailers like Macy’s are arguing to remove the classifications of “essential” and “non-essential” for businesses, a distinction that has been contentious since the beginning of pandemic, CNN reported. Retailers that sell essential items alongside their other products have been labelled “essential,” giving them an unfair advantage over other stores, some allege.

“We don’t believe the designation of essential and non-essential should play in retail. We believe you either have a safe environment or not,” Jeffrey Gennette, CEO of Macy’s, said during their earnings call last week, reported CNN. “You should be held accountable to health and safety standards.”

While stores currently classified as “non-essential” haven’t been required to close yet, they are facing restrictions such as reduced store hours and reduced maximum occupancy rates.

A spokesperson for Gap told CNN in an email that government action should “focus on science and safe retailing protocols, rather than arbitrary and outdated designations of ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ based upon what a retailer sells.”

Some major retailers, such as Amazon and Walmart, have already re-envisioned and multiplied the Black Friday of 2020, spreading promotions over several Fridays. Others, such as Best Buy, are having sales all season long. Most stores are relying on their digital sales — exponentially so, as online holiday sales could hit $189 billion this year.

Recent PYMNTS research found that business owners are adapting to meet consumers needs and fears as their pandemic-era behaviors become the new normal.

“Such reports have merchants scrambling to replace in-store Black Friday purchases by creating more than just a one-day sales event and shifting the whole thing online,” PYMNTS noted.

But retailers, already struggling before the second wave of the pandemic, are depending on the holiday season this year more than ever, and are looking to “maximize sales” in every channel available, according to CNN.

Officials are of mixed opinions on whether to close stores, some acknowledging the damage this could do to the economy, others wary of the potential to further spread the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, in France, retailers are postponing Black Friday sales, giving officials and business owners more time to decide on a plan to safely reopen “non-essential” businesses in a way that keeps people safe and supports holiday sales.