Ruck is calling for the federal government to relax the lockdown rules – analogous to takeaway food in restaurants.
Mariahilfer Strasse in Vienna
The President of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, Walter Ruck, calls on the federal government to loosen the lockdown rules for stationary retail. Specifically, he advocates allowing goods to be picked up – similar to taking away meals in the catering sector. That would support the entrepreneurs with a view to the beginning of the Christmas business and prevent sales outflows in the direction of online wholesale, said Ruck in the APA conversation.
The head of the chamber can envision entrepreneurs handing over the goods previously ordered online or by telephone to their customers via collection boxes or at a transfer point without the buyer having to enter the business premises. “Why shouldn't that which works for food also work for books, clothes or shoes?” Said Ruck.
“Click-and-collect” option currently not allowed
However, this “click-and-collect” option is currently not permitted by the Corona Regulation. That should change, because “I don't understand why the delivery via an outdoor box should be rated differently virologically than the pick-up option in the catering trade”. At the same time, of course, the exit restrictions would also have to be adapted in such a way that the pick-up would be exempt from punishment for customers.
Such a relaxation would be “a way for many retailers to take something away from the Christmas business,” argued the WKW president. After all, it is about a lot of money and thus regional added value. According to Ruck, Christmas sales in stationary retail in Vienna alone amounted to around 335 million euros in 2019 (Austria as a whole: 1.55 billion euros). That means a contribution to the gross regional product of 389 million euros and provides 4,313 annual full-time equivalents for jobs in the federal capital.
Regional platforms instead of Amazon
Despite sales replacement during the lockdown, retailers across all industries would be very interested in serving their customers – not least because of this in order to retain them in the longer term, said Ruck: “The companies say: sales replacement is great, but our business is actually that Serving customers and not sitting there receiving funding. “
The head of the chamber did not want to make any forecasts about the amount of the expected losses in this year's Christmas business. There are too many uncertainties for that. In any case, he appealed for online purchases to be made on regional platforms instead of international corporations like Amazon: “Then the money will stay in the region.” And Ruck also supports the proposal by WKÖ President Harald Mahrer to also be able to open the shops on the remaining Advent Sundays after the lockdown. Of course, that should by no means be understood as a “precedent” for the “introduction of the Sunday opening through the back door,” said Ruck. But it could help regional trade and at the same time straighten customer flows in Corona times.
