Officials recommend online shopping for Black Friday

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia/Boone County Health Department is recommending people shop local and shop online this year if possible due to the pandemic.

Black Friday shopping recommendations are included in the guidelines for Thanksgiving outlined by the health department. A spokesperson for the health department, Scott Clardy, said people should avoid shopping in large crowds.

"We’re recommending doing curbside delivery on sopping from local retailers online," he said.

The Jefferson City Mayor, Carrie Tergin, also explained the importance of shopping locally and using low-risk shopping options. She sent out a Thanksgiving tip-sheet, which goes into more detail about safety guidelines for the holiday season.

"It's not saying that you can't shop. What it's saying is find a low contact safe method to shop and you absolutely can shop local, support local businesses by doing these low contact, low-risk methods," Mayor Tergin said.

Jon Vincent, a consumer analyst for Early Black Friday, explained how stores across the country are changing the way they operate this year on Black Friday amid the pandemic.

He said most stores are closing their doors on Thanksgiving Day and asking customers to buy online.

"They are really promoting their online sites instead, and to entice customers to further shop online, some are offering online only doorbuster deals as well too," Vincent said.

He said stores are still planning to open their doors on Black Friday, but local health officials are still asking people to shop online or in any alternative way to keep people safe during the Holidays.