SINGAPORE - With Covid-19 restrictions gradually winding down, shoppers hit the streets as they returned to the nation's favourite pastime on Black Friday (Nov 26).

The SafeEntry gantries at malls beeped busily as the throngs of shoppers, drawn by steep discounts, checked into bargain hunting grounds.

Among them were consumers who wanted to get a feel of the actual goods before buying, and older shoppers who never quite took to online shopping during the pandemic.

On the hunt for new kitchen equipment in the basement of Takashimaya was Madam Linda Chng, 52. She said: "Although my children tend to do more online shopping, I still prefer to go to brick and mortar department stores because I like to be able to look and feel things."

"The Black Friday sale just gave me an opportunity to do so at lower prices," added Madam Chng, who is self-employed.

Housewife Lim Soo Shan, 40, said she prefers to shop online, but was accompanying her 65-year-old mother at the luxury bag section of Takashimaya to shop for a bag.

"For the older generation, it's important for them to touch the product before they get it," she said.

Mr Erwin Wuysang-Oei, head of marketing and e-commerce at Metro, said the home-grown department store has seen "encouraging" sales figures from its stores and online.

While shoppers yearn for some sense of normalcy by shopping in stores during the festive period, "customers feel they can get the same Black Friday deals online as in physical stores, and the items are available to them 24/7, so there's no rush," said Mr Wuysang-Oei, who is also the store's merchandising controller.

Queueing outside Bath & Body works, student Wong Pui Mun, 17, said: "Just seeing all the shops put up sign boards saying 'buy three get three free' makes the experience so much more thrilling than shopping online."

Her friend Alexis Lai, 17, also a student, added: "All these physical sales have also provided us a great excuse to spend time together, especially, since we haven't been able to gather together in a group larger than two in a while."

Covid-19 restrictions have been relaxed since Monday, allowing groups of up to five to gather.

The Black Friday sale, which in recent years here has come to be the flag-off for the Christmas sales, has brought much needed foot traffic to retailers.

Retail staff at five stores in Orchard Road told The Straits Times that the crowd was at least 50 per cent larger than last Friday's.

Mr Matthew Hoang, Courts Singapore's chief executive, said that its flagship store along Orchard Road has also benefited from the increased footfall.

"We expect that our Black Friday sales this year will outperform last year's," he said.