Majority of retailers feel it will take 6 months to recover from COVID-19 crisis: Survey

70 percent of the retailers in India expects the business recovery to happen in more than six months due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis which has hit the retail sector of the country hard, said a survey by Retailers Association of India (RAI). The survey titled, ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Indian Retail,’ said that 20 percent retailers feels that business recovery will take more than 12 months.

RAI conducted this survey among retailers to gauge their view on the impact of COVID-19 on their business and manpower. The survey was filled by 768 respondents across India, RAI said.

Small Retailers are expecting to lay-off 30 percent of their manpower going forward, this number drops to 12 percent for medium retailers and 5 percent for large retailers. On the whole, retailers who have taken part in the survey expect the layoff in the tune of about 20 percent, said the survey.

85 percent of the retail costs are fixed costs, which is putting several financial pressures on retailers. The industry is experiencing severe liquidity challenges which can lead to large scale unemployment. The cash inflow of the industry has come to a standstill, while the fixed operating costs remain intact.

RAI conducted this survey among retailers to gauge their view on the impact of COVID-19 on their business and manpower. 768 retailers across India took part in the survey, RAI said.

According to the survey, more than 95 percent non-food retailers who have their shops closed in the lockdown are looking at practically no revenues till the lockdown is in place. In the next six months, non-food retailers expect to earn 40 percent as compared to last year’s revenue, the survey further said.

“2 out of 5 retailers want concessions and relief on GST, taxes and loans to ensure business continuity in the face of the revenue downfalls and heavy losses for FY’21. Government and Financial Institutions have to come together & provide a meaningful package for the industry to survive the impact of COVID-19.”

Earlier, the CEO of RAI had said that if the country remains in the state of lockdown till June, 30 percent of the retail stores operating in India may have to close down, resulting in the loss of 18 lakh jobs.

Courtesy: Economic Times