UNICOMER (St. Lucia) Limited, said it rose to the challenge to meet and exceed expectations of its customers during the recently held Black Friday sales event at it branches throughout the island.
The Company noted that despite the COVID-19 pandemic still looming, Black Friday 2020 presented retailers with the arduous challenge of providing customers with door-buster deals and savings in a safe and comfortable environment.
“I loved the creativity this year at the Unicomer brand of companies,” expressed Don Marcllin-Mondesir, a frequent shopper at the Courts Marisule location. “Top of my mind was my personal safety and I felt at ease at Courts Marisule. The staff enforced the COVID-19 safety protocols and there was adequate signage and instructions for customers. If you add that to the irresistible weekend offers…it’s no wonder why I’ve been here every weekend this month!”
“It’s a good feeling when you know that you’ve met the needs of your customers”, stated Mr. Vincent Gordon, Managing Director of Unicomer OECS.
According to him, “Prior to initiating our plans for Black Friday, we were deliberate as a business in our efforts to ensure that we implement stringent protocols to mitigate against the spread of COVID-19. We used sections of our parking lot and introduced tented spaces outdoors to relocate several ranges of our products to safeguard our staff and customers. Though this new approach was tedious and required much more effort from our staff; it allowed for adequate space for customers to shop comfortably and safely and for our teams to serve our customers with confidence.”
The Unicomer team also added measures like increased sanitation, multiple temperature-check stations and increased signage with advisories to staff and customers. For crowd control and adherence to the government mandated health and safety protocols, security and logistics teams were increased to monitor crowd movements. Within the branches, the automatic traffic counters recorded and regulated the footfall of customers.
“The year 2020, despite being wrought with challenges, forced retailers to be more innovative”, shared Mr. Gordon, adding that “Though the shifts to our business practices and retail environments were many, we felt we could achieve the necessary win-win using a deliberate strategy focused on safe shopping.
“Based on our customer feedback and our results so far, it appears that we made the right investments and sacrifices and as a result, Black Friday and the month of November proved beneficial for our business and exciting and crazy for our customers,” said the Company’s Managing Director.