How local newsagents have helped Aussies through COVID-19

Small business newsagents have helped their local communities in many ways through COVID-19 and here are some of them:

1. Being open. While many retailers closed, newsagents remained open all through Covid as they were classed essential. This presented rostering challenges along with workplace health and safety challenges.
2. Diversifying. With other local shops closed, plenty of Newsagency businesses temporarily filled those product gaps that emerged.
3. Helping others clear stock. With other shops closed, plenty of newsagents took some stock others had and helped them clear it. I know of cases where newsagents took on stock from closed nearby shops, helping friends out.
4. Expanding the range to serve evolving needs. Helping with home office supplies, nesting products, iso home entertainment like jigsaws … newsagents have moved quickly to serve emerging needs, and not often at huge profit, like, maybe, some supermarkets.
5. Making shopping easier. Packaging selected items to make shopping faster and easier for things people might buy together.
6. Offering safe curbside pickup. Newsagents have made shopping easy and safe for shoppers to collect items orders over the phone or online. Staff in-store shop for the items, bag them and have them ready for contactless collection.
7. Offering new home delivery. This has been done in situations where retailers have not offered home delivery. For example, delivery of care packages to nursing homes, delivery of gifts to locals ordered by family members elsewhere.
8. Offering safer shopping. By re-shaping the in-store space and experience and making shopping safer, newsagents lead locally on this early in Covid.
9. Being local. Living local and being engaged local offers a big difference. Being the one local shop people could go to for some, distanced, human interaction.

Covid has been challenging and continues to be challenging for retailers. Newsagents are here every day, trading, serving their communities and often helping beyond what one might expect for a business. It is this commitment to community that runs through the veins of newsagents.

With older Australians as their customers, newsagents have been particularly focussed on safe retail for them.

Covid has a long way to go, as the current situation in Victoria shows. Newsagents are doing their best to offer local safe and helpful service to their local communities.