Our first week of national lockdown and I am sure that many of you (like me) have found yourselves in situations that we could never have imagined. Whilst the lockdown is neither straightforward nor easy; I can assure you that we are doing everything in our power to make sure that those stores remaining open are operating smoothly and that our staff and customers remain safe.
I believe that our collective resilience and our ability to adapt to new circumstances will enable us to survive the pandemic even as we forge further into unchartered territory.
Like you, we have had to adjust to the “new normal”. This entailed changing our logistics, transportation and supply chain processes in order to prioritise essential goods like healthcare, cleaning, baby, personal care and hygiene products.
None of this would have been possible without our incredibly dedicated staff who continue to do their best under exceptionally demanding conditions. Our people continue to ensure that our stores are stocked and that our Pharmacies and Clinics provide the essential healthcare you need.
The health and safety of our customers and staff remain our top priority. To protect our customers and staff from infection, we are installing plexiglass screens at our tills and Pharmacy counters. In addition, we are providing our floor staff with perspex safety visors.
You may notice that our Clicks staff are not wearing gloves. This is based on advice provided by Government that gloves can spread the virus faster and give people a false sense of security that they do not need to wash their hands. This is also the recommendation from the World Health Organisation.
We are providing hand sanitisers at entrances and key points throughout the store. We have also put in place strict hygiene protocols for staff in line with guidelines from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
We appeal to all our customers to practice physical distancing and follow our preventative guidelines in-store. To assist in this, we marked out our floors as per social distancing guidelines and are limiting the number of people in-stores at any one time.
We recognise that as a result of the lockdown, customers may not have the requisite time to spend their cash back, consequently there will be no expiry of cash back during this earning period.
As South Africa’s largest retail pharmacy chain we will continue to put you, our customers first, and support you during these very challenging times as we walk this road with you.
Please leave your home only if you absolutely must and help us in #flatteningthecurve.
