I called around a bunch of retail businesses late yesterday, looked at data for my own shops and visited a Westfield centre and a suburban high street business where I have shops and did so within the rules.
Victorians are responding to the clear lockdown rules.
I saw shops that are not essential are shut.
Foot traffic in shops that are open is way down.
Shoppers are shopping quick, in and out.
In newsagencies, newspapers top the purchases followed by magazines. The gap between those two and cards and gifts is considerable.
While data I have are not enough for a reliable trend, from what I have been told and have seen, shopping centre newsagencies could be down as much as 80% and high street newsagencies down around 50%.
I expect numbers around this level to continue for the duration of the lockdown.
Victorian retailers tell me shoppers are, overall, reacting well, wearing masks, checking in, not loitering. While I’ve read some news stories of poor customer behaviour, no retailers I spoke with has stories.
The other good news from Victorian retailers is that click and collect, local delivery and posting to family services are all working well.
on a personal level, we have cut our hours back to lockdown hours. Opening 9 am and closing any time after two, depending on foot traffic. No trading on Sundays.
Yes the reduced operating hours is a smart move . Only problem is in NSW we are being told that the government Jobsaver support programme is dependant on keeping the level of casual & permanent employees at the same level as the week ended 13th July. With no detail yet released and with funding for this particular programme not open until 4 weeks into the lockdown this is an fn mess!
Steve they will have to adjust those settings now because of restrictions moving between LGAs.