Even as the country is gradually reopening businesses post almost 2 months of complete or partial lockdown period after the announcement by the Central Government, Retailers Association of India (RAI) voiced its concern as the retail industry continued to meet roadblocks with numerous restrictions being imposed at the state and local levels.
Retail businesses are getting interrupted and consumer sentiments are dampening due to total lockdowns in some places and limited operational hours in other areas.
While the intention behind the recent instances of local lockdowns and ad-hoc restrictions being imposed in UP, Maharashtra, AP and Karnataka, is safety of citizens, these are making a distressing impact on retail businesses.
The association threw light on how these restrictions are affecting the industry. The restricted hours of operations, stoppage of staff and good vehicle has led to hindered supply chain and buying patterns; limited hours for operations is leading to crowding in stores since the demand is inelastic and this is detrimental to social distancing norms; the ad-hoc restrictions lack clear instructions on what is allowed and what is not leading to law enforcement stopping goods vehicles and employees from reaching stores thereby creating supply chain and staffing issues; among other issues.
Talking about the restrictions on operating hours, Sandeep Kataria, CEO, Bata India, said “Restricted shopping time can lead to unnecessary overcrowding of stores, which is unfavourable towards the personal safety of both store staff and customers. Longer operational hours will support recovery for retailers as well as help adhering to social distancing norms.”
RAI has submitted representations to various state and local authorities with following requests:
- Mandatorily allowing essential shops including kiranas, general trade shops, supermarkets, hypermarkets & wholesalers to operate every day of the week until 9 pm to cater to the daily needs of the customers.
- Ensuring uniform and regular opening of all categories of retail for full working hours while following stringent hygiene practices and adhering to social distancing norms.
- Allowing movement of staff and vehicles of commodities without taking coercive action against the staff.
- Opening of malls in all states.
Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI, said “RAI has submitted representations to state & local authorities in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka requesting for removal of the timing restrictions that have been imposed in some regions derailing smooth operations. The need of the hour is concerted efforts by all stakeholders – while retailers are doing their bit by following stringent hygiene practices, the policymakers too need to support to ensure economic revival across the country. Consumption is important for the country and supports the business environment.”
According to a survey by RAI, retailers witnessed 67 per cent degrowth from 15 June to 30 June 2020 as against the corresponding period last year.
Similarly, malls faced 77 per cent degrowth during the same period while high street retail showed 62 per cent of degrowth in business.