Local lockdowns and limited operational hours disrupting Retail recovery : RAI

The Retailers Association of India on Monday has submitted representations to various State & Local Authorities after the recent instances of local lockdowns and ad-hoc restrictions being imposed in UP, Maharashtra, AP and Karnataka are making a distressing impact on retail businesses. The representation puts forth recommendations to get businesses and life of consumers on track to recovery.

According to RAI, total lockdowns in some places and limited operational hours and days in several others are creating setbacks for retailers as the already stressed retail businesses are getting further interrupted and in turn dampening consumer sentiment. Retailers are already facing huge setbacks in terms of payment of wages and rentals due to very low sales of about 40% as compared to last year, due to extended lockdown.

Contending the restrictions on operating hours, Sandeep Kataria, CEO, Bata India said, “Restricted shopping time can lead to unnecessary overcrowding of stores, which is unfavorable 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.”

Disrupted by the local lockdowns and restrictions Arvind Mediratta, MD and CEO, METRO Cash & Carry India, expressed, “The decision to close all stores on weekends in Uttar Pradesh and to reinforce a stringent lockdown in Bengaluru from today is going to severely impact the business. These lockdowns will create severe inconvenience for all citizens as they also bar operations of food and grocery retail and wholesale stores. Such hastily implemented decisions by states undermine investor confidence and would come in the way of making the country ‘aatmanirbhar’.”

Himanshu Chakrawarti, CEO, Unlimited, Arvind Lifestyle Brands said, “Customer convenience and preventing of crowding are both served best by having regular retail timings. Odd-even dates or few hours trading time inconveniences customers and also results in crowding. Request the local authorities to take a larger contextual view and issue notifications with more stable working days and timings to ensure customer safety and convenience.”

RAI urges state authorities to mandatorily allow 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, uniform and regular opening of all categories of retail for full working and opening of malls in all states.

“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 to need to support to ensure economic revival across the country. Consumption is important for the country and supports the business environment” said Kumar Rajagopalan – CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI).

The recent Retail Business Survey conducted by RAI indicates that retailers witnessed 67% degrowth from June 15 to June 30, 2020, compared to the corresponding period last year. During the same time frame, malls witnessed 77% degrowth (y-o-y) on account of not being allowed to open uniformly across the country, high street retail showed degrowth of 62% (y-o-y) in business despite being allowed to open across India.