Retailers in despair over new vaccine pass rule

A customer scans a QR code on a tablet PC to enter a grocery store in Seoul on Jan. 9. Korea Times file

By Kim Jae-heun

Local retailers are crying foul over a newly adopted pandemic measure that restricts people from visiting department stores, supermarkets and grocery stores if they cannot show vaccination certification or a negative PCR test result in the last two days.

The rule was introduced on Monday and will go into full force on Jan. 16. Retail firms say it will be hard to hire more workers to oversee the system, as they already lack the personnel needed for upcoming Lunar New Year promotional events. They also predicted difficulties securing new equipment needed to check the validity of visitors' vaccination certificates.

Many retail branches are spread across the nation and it is almost impossible for retailers to recruit enough new employees and deploy the vaccine-checking equipment in time.

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Large supermarkets, in particular, have been suffering from a decreasing number of shoppers and sluggish business performance, faced with increasing demand for home meal replacement products amid the ongoing pandemic.

"We will have to hire an average 50 new employees for each branch, which adds up to 5,000 across the country. Also, we need some 2,000 new tablet PCs in the stores to check the QR codes of vaccinated customers," a Homeplus official said. Currently, the retailer has only one employee per store checking vaccine passes and 1,000 tablet PCs at 135 branches.

Lotte Mart needs an average of two to three new workers per store to deploy at its entrances and in the parking lot.

"Overall, we will need 300 new employees," a Lotte Mart official said.

Department stores are facing what seems like an urgent situation too.

Lotte, Shinsegae and Hyundai Department Stores will have to place at least 1,700 workers in total at their stores' entrances to check whether customers are complying with the measure. They are also considering closing down the number of entrances.

Another problem is possible confrontations between employees and customers.

"Customers feel uncomfortable with workers checking the validity of their COVID-19 vaccination status. This situation can lead to arguments with newly employed part-time workers who have not had enough time to do customer response training," an industry source said.

Department stores and large grocery stores have until Jan. 16 to prepare and practice for the new vaccine pass, and they will not be fined during the period. However, after the grace period ends, those unable to enforce the rule will be subject to a penalty fee and possible further administrative action.

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