4 minute read
COVID-19 UPDATE
£1.9BN OF ‘LOST RETAIL SALES‘ IN SCOTLAND DURING PANDEMIC
NEW ANALYSIS BY THE SCOTTISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM HASSHOWN THAT RETAILERS IN SCOTLAND LOST ALMOST £2BN INSALES IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THE PANDEMIC.
A new analysis undertaken by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and published a month after non-essential shops were permitted to re-open has found that retailers in Scotland lost £1.9bn of retail sales during the first four months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Scottish retail sales recorded four successive months of doubledigit decline between March and June. The analysis, based on Scottish Government and SRC data, shows the sheer scale of the retail sales that were lost during this period compared to the same period last year.
The performance of Scottish retail sales improved in June compared to recent months but was still down almost a fifth on the same period last year, and lagged behind that of the UK as a whole.
SRC Director David Lonsdale said: “These figures are stark and show that retail sales crumbled over the first four months of the pandemic. Shops and retail jobs depend on the ongoing patronage of the public and whilst the situation is gradually improving, it remains particularly acute in our city centres where stores are suffering huge drops in footfall.”
ENGLAND SET FOR BAN ON HFSS PROMOS
LOCAL RETAILERS IN ENGLAND WILL FACE A RANGE OF NEW CHALLENGES INCLUDING A BAN ON CERTAIN PROMOS ON ‘UNHEALTHY’ FOOD AND SITING RESTRICTIONS IN-STORE AS PART OF THE UK GOVERNMENT’S NEW OBESITY STRATEGY.
The UK government has unveiled a package of measures as part of a new obesity strategy to “get the nation fit and healthy” and “protect themselves against Covid-19”.
The move will see the end of a range of promotional mechanics on products deemed to be ‘unhealthy’, generally products that are designated as being high in salt, sugar and fat. The ban will only apply to retailers in England with Scotland having ‘paused’ a similar Bill in June.
Key measures include banning ‘unhealthy’ food ads, ending BOGOF and other promotions and a new consultation on front-of-pack nutritional labelling.
The Association of Convenience Stores has urged the government to consider the impact of the new strategy on local shops. For more detail, turn to page 10.
GREGGS PRIORITISES DIGITAL TO COMBAT COVID LOSSES
Greggs is to roll out click & collect and delivery services nationwide in the coming months and will transition the 800 outlets that have already re-opened for takeaway only into combined ‘walk in’ and digital services.
The move came as Greggs posted a pre-tax loss of £65.2m for the 26 weeks up to 27 June 2020. Like-for-like sales were down by 49% in the six-month period despite increasing 11.7% in the first nine weeks of 2020.
The company said that the digital channels (click & collect, home delivery) will help it serve additional customers in a safe and effective manner while social distancing measures remain in place.
AGE-MASKING CHALLENGES AHEAD
With face coverings now mandatory in stores, the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group (RASG) has produced a new customer-facing poster to help retailers warn customers that look under 25 that they may be asked to remove their face coverings to help check their age when they are attempting to buy age-restricted products.
Regardless of coronavirus, the law requires to refuse sales of age-restricted products if a customer’s age cannot be verified.
Retailers can download the poster direct from the ACS website.
SGF MEMBERS BOOST
The growth in popularityof the convenience sectorduring the pandemic has beenreflected in a surge of newcorporate members for theScottish Grocers‘ Federation.These include Calbee, Shoply,Lincoln Commercial Funding,Ian McLeod Distillers, WilliamGrant and Sons, StaffSafe, GCThermal Solutions, Too Goodto Go and Motor Fuel Group.
SHIELDING PAUSED
The Scottish Government hassaid people who have beenadvised to shield because ofCovid-19 will no longer haveto do so from 1 August. Themove is a pause and not anend to the practice and DeputyFirst Minister John Swinneysaid that shielding would bereintroduced if necessary.
DRINKING HALVES
British shoppers consumed1.3bn litres of alcohol duringlockdown, down from 2bnlitres for the same period lastyear, according to Nielsen.This despite consumersspending £7.7bn on alcohol insupermarkets, £1.9bn more thesame time last year.
VIRTUAL QUEUING APP
Sainsbury’s is testing a virtual queuing system in five of its stores using the ufirst app in an attempt to help employees manage queues and the flow of customers as well as enhancing the shopper experience. The app lets customers retain their place in the virtual queue using their smartphone with an alert letting them know when they’ve reached the front and will be extremely useful in the event of a second Covid-19 spike.
The company is also rolling out its SmartShop scan, pay and go app to more of its convenience format stores, with over 110 sites live in the very near future.
