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Business confidence has taken a hit since the return of Covid-19 to New Zealand, according to a new report from Retail NZ.
Photo: 123RF
As customers keep their distance and border restrictions stifle supply chains, he warns that 10,000 companies could be on the brink.
The pounding of pedestrians and the roar of traffic are returning to central Auckland, but the manager of Pauanesia, the High Street souvenir and gift shop, Kerran Cobb, said the drop in customers started about a week before the second closure. from the city.
She said that was a concern for local retailers who thought they were experiencing the worst impact of Covid-19.
“I think everyone is quite concerned, if this happens again, it’s like another nail in the coffin,” he said.
The August Retail NZ survey showed that 90 per cent of retailers with stores in Auckland reported a drop in sales and the super city closure had affected businesses across the country, with 53 per cent of stores stores outside Auckland experiencing a drop in sales.
Added to the bleak outlook were 13 percent of retailers who said they weren’t sure their businesses would survive the next 12 months. Another 23 percent said it was on a razor’s edge and could go either way.
It’s not just about the number of people buying products – getting products off the shelves overseas proved difficult for 73 percent of the companies surveyed.
Retail NZ CEO Greg Harford said it is not the New Zealand border where the problems are occurring.
“The biggest problem really seems to be the international shipping ports. Fewer ships are being loaded. Products take longer to pass through foreign ports,” he said.
Among those awaiting shipments abroad was the High Street Havana House cigar store, where retail assistant Josh Holtom helps distribute products to 40 other stores across the country.
“So the freight has been a bit difficult for us to maintain. We are a couple of orders behind. So when a wholesale customer placed an order this month and we ran out last month, we had to buy something else to supply. essentially that gap, “he said.
Supply problems had also been felt a few doors down at Unity Books, but manager Niki Ward remained upbeat.
She took credit for being an independent store, with a loyal customer base, for keeping her bookstore buzzing.
Unity Books Director Niki Ward.
Photo: RNZ / Katie Todd
Unity Books had also launched an online store, and said book trading companies were putting their heads together online to overcome supply problems.
She was optimistic that trade would not decline further heading into the busiest time of year.
“I am positive because I have seen the effect that books have on different people in different situations. It is an essential service. We bring laughter and life into people’s homes. I think we are going to have a great Christmas, it feels like have a great Christmas. “
However, the outlook was not so rosy for retailer The Warehouse, which today is proposing to cut up to 750 jobs in a restructuring.
The company said it had been consulting with staff and unions since June and expected the cuts would affect 320 full-time equivalent jobs, or between 500 and 750 positions.
Harford said building consumer confidence was key to keeping other retailers afloat, and said more fiscal stimulus from the government might be needed as a way to achieve this.
