What’s happening in the retail sector?
Find out with Retail Radar, our monthly research report. It’s useful for:
- Getting a snapshot of the sentiment of Kiwi retailers.
- Identifying future expectations of sales, inflation, and employment intentions.
Our Christmas Outlook Special Edition of the Retail Radar report:
Retailers challenged by COVID-19 disruption.
There’s a raft of challenges facing retailers right now. The biggest of them all is sourcing product. This is because COVID-19 is causing disruptions all along the retail supply chain. These stretch from manufacture, through to distribution channels, right down to anticipating shop floor demand.
Retailers are also facing other significant issues. These include: negotiating rent relief; paying tax or other bills; paying employees; and adapting to ecommerce.
Many business owners are concerned about the lack of international customers, due to the uncertainty of the current trading environment. There’s the very real possibility of further lockdowns, and also difficulties finding qualified staff.
Our October 2020 COVID-19 Special Edition report is out now:
Retail sales and confidence on the rebound again after lockdown.
The retail sector is broadly recovering from the second Level 3 lockdown in Auckland in August. In September, sales rebounded as restrictions were eased, and were reportedly up 19.6% compared to September 2019.
While total sales from March to September were down 2.7%, it’s key to note that sales activities are spread unevenly across the sector. Just over a third of retailers reported that their sales were down. Conversely, 45% of retailers reported an improvement on sales compared to the same time last year. A further 19% recorded that sales were about the same. This is a significant improvement on last month, which saw sales plummet for the majority of retailers.
It’s important to note, over September 2020, retailers trading online fared better than those who didn’t trade online. 60% of respondents with an online presence said sales were up. Comparatively, sales were up for only 35% of bricks and mortar only businesses.
We welcome all feedback on Retail Radar – if you have any comments or questions please email: [email protected].
