The Covid-19 pandemic is dramatically changing the global economic landscape and causing severe disruption to Australian small businesses, ACCC chair, Rod Sims, says.
“Many small businesses are doing it tough, and are being forced to restrict their hours, lay off staff and, for too many, close their doors,” he says.
“We know the Covid-19 pandemic is having a significant economic impact across Australia, which is why we are taking measures to help consumers and small to medium sized businesses.”
Sims says the ACCC’s immediate response to the pandemic has focused in two broad areas of work:
● authorisation of crisis collaboration between competitors, particularly in relation to hardship polices, and
● the establishment of the ACCC’s Covid-19 taskforce to tackle immediate harmful consumer and small business problems arising from the crisis
The ACCC has already granted interim authorisation allowing retailers to collectively bargain with landlords about rent relief during the pandemic.
“We see a clear public benefit in allowing retailers to work together in negotiations with landlords and help tenants who are experiencing financial hardship.”
Sims says a conditional authorisation has also been granted to allow the Australian Energy Council and wholesale and retail energy businesses to provide financial relief to business customers financially impacted by the current crisis.
“Energy is an essential service and it is important energy market participants support businesses through the pandemic.”
There may be further benefits to energy users flowing from the crisis.
“One rare positive to come from this pandemic is that wholesale electricity and gas prices are falling significantly. These falls need to be passed on to businesses that rely on energy.
“As Australia comes out of this crisis we will need our energy prices to fall significantly if we are to have the recovery we need.”
ACCC’s Covid-19 taskforce is rapidly responding to the thousands of phone calls, emails and social media reports from impacted businesses.
“We are already engaging with some large businesses about allegations they are deliberately choosing not to pay their suppliers, or demanding large discounts off goods already delivered, and also delaying payments significantly, and that they should cease the conduct immediately.
“We are looking into concerns that many small grocery or convenience stores are missing out on supplies that now seem readily available to the large supermarkets. We need to maintain strong competition in the retail sector to ensure economic recovery once the pandemic subsides.”
Businesses expect ongoing financial impacts
Almost three quarters of Australian businesses (72 per cent) reported that reduced cash flow is expected to have an adverse impact on business over the next two months, according to results from the third Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) survey on Business Impacts of COVID-19.
ABS head of industry statistics, John Shepherd, says reduced demand for goods and services was expected to impact about seven in 10 businesses (69 per cent) over the next two months, while two in five businesses (41 per cent) expect a reduced ability to pay operating expenses.
The survey also found that three in five (61 per cent) businesses had registered or intended to register for the JobKeeper Payment scheme.
“Of those businesses registered or intending to register, 73 per cent expected more than half of their employees to the eligible for the scheme,” Shepherd says.
“The survey also found that of the businesses that did not intend to register for the JobKeeper Payment scheme, 55 per cent reported that it was because the business was not eligible. Less than one in 10 (seven per cent) reported not registering due to insufficient cash flow to continue paying staff before JobKeeper payments commence.”
Let’s Regrow stimulus campaign
With so many Australian retailers on their knees and store closures driving shoppers online, e-commerce is the only vestige of hope for the majority of retailers today. Some categories are booming, but many others are decimated and desperate for a way to boost sales.
Enter Click Frenzy. The theme for this year’s Mayhem sale is ‘Let’s Regrow’, and Click Frenzy is offering every Australian retailer a $1,000 voucher to advertise during this extra-critical retail event. The stimulus has no strings attached, and is designed to give all retailers a chance to benefit from Click Frenzy’s broad national reach to over a million online shoppers.
Running for a whopping 53 hours, shoppers will access all the best deals and exclusive offers from hundreds of their favourite retailers.
“We recognise that our retail customers are hurting, as we all are, so we wanted to help businesses in the way we know best, which is driving a frenzy of online shopping their way,” Click Frenzy managing director, Grant Arnott, says.
To give retailers every chance of success and survival, we want to open our platform to put more businesses in front of primed, stir crazy online shoppers ready to get their frenzy on.”
In addition to the Click Frenzy offer, Power Retail is offering an extended free trial of their full E-Commerce Intelligence Platform, which has never been more imperative as the retail landscape continues to change dramatically every day.
Through the platform, members will have unlimited access to fresh online retail industry insights drawn from tens of thousands of shopper and retailer surveys and over half a billion online sessions, with daily access to benchmarking figures on revenue, marketing, traffic and more.
The Click Frenzy Mayhem begins at 7pm on Tuesday, 19 May 2020.
