HCM City supermarkets eye normalcy, say they are well prepared

Staffs prepare goods at a supermarket in HCM City. The city’s supermarkets say they are fully prepared to welcome back customers from October 1 after months of closure. — Photo courtesy of Co.opmart

With HCM City authorities lifting restrictions on travel, supermarkets have said they are ready to welcome customers.

Big players like MM Mega Market, Lotte Mart, AEON Vietnam, Vinmart, and Co.opmart said they would ensure all pandemic prevention measures are in place.

They had prepared well in terms of both human resources and products, they said.

Nguyen Ngoc Thang, director of Co.opmart’s operation division said Saigon Co.op’s supermarket chains and their online channels would function normally from October 1.

Customers need to furnish COVID-19 ‘green cards,’ he said.

An AEON spokesperson said from October 1 the company’s shopping centres and supermarkets would function from 8am to 10pm.

Lotte Mart said its four supermarkets would reopen on October 1 after functioning only online for a while.

MM Mega Market told Viet Nam News that more than 1,500 of its employees in HCM City were fully vaccinated and its supermarkets were striving to become a safe shopping destination with every employee having a COVID-19 green card as soon as possible.

Recently it installed equipment at its stores in the city to count traffic to ensure shoppers keep the required safe distance, with cameras at the entrance and exit connected to the central server to analyse the actual number of shoppers.

Thanks to AI technology, the system can distinguish between MM employees and customers by the former’s uniforms.

When the number of shoppers in a store reaches the permitted number, it will send an alert to the system controllers and customers who wait to enter and update the details on a display screen at the entrance.

AEON said all employees who come into direct contact with customers have COVID green cards, wear masks, gloves and drop-proof goggles, and get tested as required.

Like MM Megamarket, many other supermarkets also limit the number of people coming in to shop and impose safety conditions such as requiring a green card, checking QR codes and ensuring 5K regulations are complied with.

After the city reopens demand for travel and goods will increase, and so to avoid congestion at shopping points, the Department of Industry and Trade has called on districts to review and oversee businesses’ reopening. — VNS