Shops reopen in Canberra after Covid lockdown in time for pre-Christmas rush

A pre-Christmas miracle? Canberra retailers have reopened in time for festive shopping. But can the festive season remedy the lockdown retail slump? Here’s how the ACT reacted.

Retail has returned to Canberra with a vengeance after nine weeks of hibernation on Friday.

While Covid-19 lockdown ended a week ago, non-essential retail did not go back to normal, with only a return to click and collect or one-on-one shopping.

The ACT reached its 80 per cent vaccination milestone this week triggering the next step in its Covid road map.

The reopening of Canberra’s non-essential retail sector has been welcomed by businesses and consumers alike.

Honeysuckle and Lace owner Maria Walters says her regular customers were waiting outside the door when she reopened her boutique on Friday. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

Maria Walters, owner of Honeysuckle and Lace boutique in Kingston, used social media throughout lock down to engage with her customers and make sales.

“Instagram worked really well for us and that‘s been the main form of contact with our customers,” she said.

“Customers will contact us via Instagram and we would do a ‘call and collect’.”

Mrs Walters said over the last week prior to the full reopening of retail the boutique trialled one-on-one 30 minute appointments with customers.

“We found that challenging at times,” she said.

“Customers weren’t in the routine of coming on time for their appointment, (sometimes) they were one or two minutes late.

“It was better than nothing.”

Despite some success with alternative forms of sales, nothing could beat the traditional face-to-face retail experience.

“Some of our regulars were here as soon as we opened the door,” Mrs Walters said.

“They are people we haven‘t seen for a long time.

“It was so exciting to open the doors.

Mrs Walters became teary when discussing the support of her co-workers and regular customers.

“I’m eternally grateful for my staff. I couldn’t have got through this without the girls. They are my rocks.

“We’ve got some really beautiful, loyal customers and I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Harry Hartog, Westfield Woden, store manager Kathryn Henry says retail reopening brings back the joy of shopping. Picture: Julia Kanapthippillai

Kathryn Henry, Manager of Harry Hartog Booksellers in Woden, said she was happy to see people again.

“It‘s been nice catching up with people, we haven’t seen each other in nine weeks,” She said.

“It‘s also been a bit strange to start again … my eyes might need a rest after everything I’ve looked at today.”

Despite having an online store, Ms Henry said there was something joyful about taking the time to browse at a bookstore.

“(During lockdown) you forget those simple (interactions), telling stories, those chats you have during the day.

“That’s something I really love about this job, you spend a lot of time meeting people, you find out a little bit about them.

“It’s mainly because we’re a bookstore but I think in a lot of small retail stores you get that personal interaction with customers.”

Ms Henry said she was hopeful Canberrans would rally behind small businesses leading into Christmas.

“Canberrans tend to be pretty good at supporting local businesses,” she said.

“There’s a system here of people buying local and understanding that if you support local businesses it ends up helping you and the community as a whole

“Last year after (Covid-19 lockdown) there were definitely people coming back to us and saying they were happy we were back.

“We’ve already had this reaction this morning”

Istanbul Street Bazaar, Westfield Woden, sales assistant Lima Barua. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

Lima Barua, sales assistant at Istanbul Street Bazaar at Westfield Woden, said she was happy to be back at work.

“Christmas is coming so a lot of people were waiting for us to open the shop so they could buy something,” Ms Barua said.

“It’s already the end of October so the Christmas period has already started.”

Ms Barua said she was hopeful the business would do well over the festive period.

“Two months is a long time, but safety comes first,” she said.

Big W at Westfield Woden was bustling when retail reopened in the ACT. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

Canberrans flocked to stores, with large crowds at Big W, at Westfield Woden taking advanatage of their first taste of freedom in months.

Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra said the return of shoppers, and normalcy after nine weeks was vital to keep businesses afloat.

“We’re heading into the all-important Christmas shopping period, when most discretionary retailers make up to two-thirds of their profits for the year,” Mr Zahra said.

“Many businesses will be looking to make up for the substantial trading losses they’ve incurred over the past two months, and the outlook is positive for the festive season.

Mr Zahra said Mastercard’s Spending Pulse data found retail sales in the ACT fell 33.2 per cent in September compared to September 2020.

“This highlights the severe impacts on consumer spending because of the stay-at-home orders that were in place,” he said.

The Australian Retailers Association expects Canberrans to spend $1.1 billion during the pre-Christmas period.

“When businesses in NSW reopened there was a lot of pent-up demand and people were excited to be back out shopping and supporting their favourite small businesses.

“It’s sure to be a similar experience in the ACT.”

Mr Zahra said online sales surged in Australia, with recent ABS figures showing $4.2 billion was spent online in August.

“This represents 15 per cent of all retail trade and is the largest proportion on record,” he said.

“However as people head back to physical stores we expect that number to stabilise.

Mr Zahra said accelerated trends in the retail space, namely the embrace of online and click and collect shopping.

Retail reopened in the ACT on Friday. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

He said these trends highlighted the need for retailers to have an “omnichannel” strategy to cater for customers in multiple ways.

“Once consumers change their habits, they tend to stick, so we expect this to remain a popular way for people to shop.

“Consumers are now expecting retailers to ‘meet them where they are’ and the businesses that have made the investments in digital to meet the changing needs of customers are on the right path to success.”

Canberra Business Chamber CEO Graham Catt said there was a sense of optimism and excitement about Canberra’s retail reopening, despite density limits and other Covid-19 restrictions.

“This is still a massive step for traders after only being allowed to offer click and collect, delivery or by appointment services,” he said

“Lockdown has been incredibly tough for local businesses and initially many small traders weren’t allowed to even access their store.

“Click and collect and delivery have provided some (businesses) with a chance to generate an income, but this isn’t a real option for many.

“Where it is possible (click and collect and delivery) may only provide 10 or 20 ten per cent of the income a business needs.

Mr Catt said while businesses were grateful for the support they have received, support was nowhere near covering operating costs.

“For many (businesses), grants still haven’t been received,” he said.

“ Small businesses have had to draw against the family home, run up credit card bills or default on bills to other suppliers.”

Despite the excitement of the looming Christmas spend Mr Catt was not optimistic that festive spending would assist all businesses.

“We hope that the demand is there to help offset the huge negative impact that lockdown had on business, but for some this won’t be the case,” Mr Catt said.

“For some sectors, spring is their biggest season, and for others Christmas is their quietest time for sales.”