CHENNAI: About a quarter of retailers in the State will need financial infusion to stay afloat or may go out of business, warns the Retailers Association of India. Speaking to Express, its CEO Kumar Rajagopalan says: The retail industry in the State is worth $77 billion, and employs 5-6 lakh people. Business got hit even before the lockdown, with a 20 per cent fall in February. With the onset of the virus, the trade has reduced further by 15 per cent in the last one and half months.”
“For retailers of non-essential items, business has reduced by 100 per cent. These include apparel, jewellery, shoes and CDIT (consumer electronics, durables, IT and telephones) retail among others. Stores selling essential goods that have been allowed to remain open during the lockdown are also suffering losses as they aren’t allowed to sell other general merchandise, which would otherwise bring them higher margins,” he said.
Modern food retail has de-grown 30-40 per cent due to supply chain problems, shortage of manpower and lower customer entry due to social distancing, said Rajagopalan.
“Garments, Saris, Electronics, Mobile Phones, Furniture, Hardware etc. almost all stores are closed. Non-grocery/food retailers are reporting 80 per cent to 100 per cent reduction in sales. Even retailers of essential items are facing losses as they aren’t allowed to sell non-essential items, which would bring them higher margins, he said.