Forget Black Friday, this is going to be Puza Monday

Bottle stores reopen tomorrow, 1 June, but many South Africans are taking no chances with possible long queues and stores running out of booze before they can stock up on their favourite tipple.

So they’ve turned to online ordering. With a vengeance.

High demand shuts wine website

For example GetWine.co.za, an online wine outlet, has experienced such demand that it has temporarily shut down the site to new orders until it can clear the backlog.

“Due to a massive influx of orders during the COVID-19 lockdown period, management has decided to temporarily pause our website to allow ourselves time to work through the order backlog,” says a notice on the website. “If you have placed and paid for your order it will be delivered.”

In an interview with radio station Cape Talk, GetWine spokesperson Johan Wegner detailed the demand. “We received orders right through April [although] we weren’t that busy,” he said.

Orders are beyond Black Friday proportions

“But it dramatically escalated during May and since the president announced we will be moved to Level 3, there was a rush of orders way beyond any Black Friday proportions that we have seen before.”

Wegner predicted that many desperate shoppers who visit bottle stores on Monday are going to be disappointed.

“So customers out there think they will go to a store on Monday or Tuesday and buy whatever wine or liquor they want, but those stores are all depleted. They almost have no stock. They first have to buy in stock before they can supply again. And the same goes for us,” he said.

Pick n Pay expects high demand for liquor

Meanwhile, Business Tech reports that Pick n Pay is working flat out to secure enough stock for its alcohol sales outlets.

“We anticipate there will be a high demand from customers once we reopen our liquor stores and we are working hard with our suppliers to secure enough stock to meet the demand. Our supply chain is ready to restock stores daily to keep shelves full,” said John Bradshaw, retail executive for marketing at Pick n Pay.

Much of this seems likely to be online sales. “Since the end of March 2020, we have signed up eight times more new online customers when compared to the previous year,” said Jessica Knight, head of online at Pick n Pay. “Many customers are shopping online for the first time and have become regular customers thanks to the ease of the online process.”