Why retailers are concerned about the timing of Victoria’s unvaccinated shopper ban

People aged over 12 who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be barred from non-essential retail in two weeks.

General retail reopened to all on October 29, but from November 24, only those who are vaccinated can attend general retail in person.

CEO of the Australian Retailers Association, Paul Zahra, says the policy change couldn’t come at a worse time.

One of the biggest shopping days of the year — Black Friday — is just two days later.

“It’s the biggest pre-Christmas sale event an it goes from Friday November 26 and rolls over that weekend into what we call Cyber Monday,” Mr Zahra told Neil Mitchell.

“We’re forecasting to see a record $5.4 billion being spent over these four days so you can imagine the timing of this announcement from the Victorian government is not great.”

Mr Zahra says the timing will mean more aggression directed at retail workers.

“What we will see is heightened levels of customer aggression, unfortunately, so retailers will need to be prepared for that,” he said.

Press PLAY below to hear why the timing of the change couldn’t be worse