MRCA Event
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Shirley Tay Reflects On The Impact Of The Pandemic on The Retail Industry Khoo Hsu Chuang, anchor of the segment “It’s Time To Do Business” interviews Shirley Tay, MRCA President, on the state of the retail sector and what were some of the lessons learned.
aking stock of the pandemic and its impact on the retail industry, Khoo says that retail industry has been one of the most affected industries by the pandemic. However, he reminds that with every crisis, comes opportunity. Khoo begins, “Malaysians love to shop – always have and always will do. When the pandemic hit, what was the biggest wake-up call for the retail sector?” “For some, this was the defining moment to make it or break it,” he adds. He asks Shirley her opinion on how they did it, and what was it like, as well as what is in store for the retail industry in the coming year. To Khoo’s question of what was the biggest wake up call, Shirley explains, “In my opinion, I think a lot of retailers were not expecting the pandemic to last so long. But what really jolted them and threw them off balance was the prolonged lockdowns and implementation of various phases of MCO.” “Actually, those who have already long embarked into online selling – they were less affected. But to me, the wake-up call was that you have to always be ready for any consequences and any changes,” she adds. Shirley cautions that anything could just happen overnight, and retailers have to review and re-evaluate their business operations. Khoo continued that there has been a shift from physical to
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Malaysia Retailer Vol 9 No 4
virtual even before the pandemic hit, and he questioned on why many retailers did not get ready earlier. To that, Shirley responded that the larger companies that have a very structured operational system, would have had experts to help in the transition from physical to virtual sales platforms and e-commerce systems. She added that with smaller retailers being more acclimatised to customers walking into their stores, they would not have thought about going online. “They were already adjusting, but it took a while for them to switch to the online system. Even right now, I don’t think retailers would switch 100 percent to online selling,” she reflects. Khoo says that experiential and high value retailers such as fine
dining restaurants would definitely not translate well to the virtual world. To his question on which sectors are still struggling and which ones have survived, Shirley elaborates that the sectors impacted by the pandemic are those classified as non-essential. “It is a difficult time for operators and retailers who are selling fashionable products like jewellery. I think they suffer a great deal,” he highlights. She stresses that retailers selling fashionable products like jewellery and other non-essential goods have faced tough times during the pandemic, because with more people working from home, they do not really need to dress up. Therefore, it can be said that they are the worst hit sector. Khoo asks about the role of the
