On February 8th, all dealers may reopen with restrictions. High discounts expected especially in the fashion and sporting goods trade.
After six weeks of corona lockdown, domestic retail is preparing to open on February 8th. Winter goods are still piling up in the shops. In order to make room for new seasonal goods, a discount battle is expected in the fashion, shoe and sporting goods trade. WKÖ trade chairman Rainer Trefelik and trade association managing director Rainer Will expect some “massive discounts”.
Among other things, the fashion sector is going “in the goods”, said Trefelik to the APA. “Nobody needs to be upset that we are working with discounts.” Many retailers would have to sell off parts of their range at high discounts after the week-long lockdown in order to wash money back into the coffers. “Now it won't work without discounts.” For the WKÖ trade chairman, the opening on February 8th is “a first glimmer of hope” for the industry. The dealers are also hoping for positive effects through follow-up purchases, for example in the furniture and electronics sectors. Since the fashion and electronics stores, among other things, have not been open since Christmas, many customers will probably still exchange goods and redeem vouchers.
Retail association managing director Will expects that from next week in the lockdown “light” the trade will lose between 250 and 300 million euros in sales per week, because the customer frequency will be significantly lower than in pre-crisis times due to hygiene restrictions and the catering trade, which is closed until the end of February . Will also expects high price discounts from dealers in the coming weeks. “The prices will tumble because the warehouses are full of winter and Christmas goods and the new spring and annual goods have to be bought,” said the representative to the APA.
Concern about virus mutations
He is currently concerned about the spread of the South African and British coronavirus mutations in Austria. “If we had to close again after a short time, it would be a double catastrophe,” said Will.
Since December 26th, due to the corona pandemic, only shops for daily needs, including supermarkets, pharmacies, drug stores and tobacconists, have been allowed to keep their shops open. In the third lockdown, the remaining retailers were allowed to offer pre-orders and pick-up (“Click & Collect”) for the first time. Depending on the industry, some consumers have accepted the pick-up offer well.
Since January 25th there has been an FFP2 mask requirement in shops for daily needs, from February 8th this applies to all retailers. In addition, the prescribed number of square meters of retail space per customer will increase from 10 to 20 square meters from Monday. Exceptions are supermarkets and drugstore chains.
According to the trade expert at KMU Research Austria, Wolfgang Ziniel, it is currently difficult to answer whether and how big a possible bankruptcy wave could be. Before the corona crisis, around a third of retailers reported a loss in their business deal. This will of course increase significantly now, Ziniel told the APA. “Developments that began before Corona will now especially come to a head,” said the expert.
