March retail trade figures showed a massive jump in turnover, however, this is not representative of the current situation.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show an 8.5 per cent overall rise in sales for March, however, the gains were confined to specific areas such as supermarkets and show devastating results across cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services, clothing, personal accessory and department stores.
NRA CEO Dominique Lamb says that the March figures needed to be put into context given the impact Covid-19 has had since then.
“March saw the peak in panic buying in supermarkets, particularly for items such as toilet paper, rice and pasta,” says Lamb.
“Today’s report also shows a nosedive in sales for cafes, restaurants, takeaway food services and clothing.
“April will be the first full month to incorporate the full extent of the lockdown restrictions, social distancing and the scaling down of services for cafes and restaurants. Retail is therefore bracing itself for very sobering results for April onwards.
“The panic buying peak is behind us, so supermarkets are likely to see a downwards correction in their sales from now on. This remains an unprecedented economic challenge and struggling retailers need as much support as possible from governments at all levels to survive the COVID-19 crisis.”
