The government is considering the possibility of opening - perhaps on Monday, 07/12/20 - some branches of the retail trade, in consultation with infectious diseases specialists. Particularly for seasonal stores that are at risk of zero turnover for the entire season, the thought seems to be a priority.
Given that the number of such outlets is not high, it removes the possibility that they may contribute to the epidemiological burden due to customer congregation. On the other hand, it is precisely their small size that is unlikely to give a major boost to the struggling trade.
Personal care businesses (hairdressers, beauty salons, etc.) and small retailers are also under the microscope of the experts, although no final decisions have yet been taken.
In any case, the country should proceed to a careful and gradual return to commercial «vitality», given the undesirable - so far - flattening of the epidemiological curve, according to the initial estimates.
At the same time, despite the statements made previously, no final decisions have yet been taken as to whether the purchasing method will be implemented. click away. At Ministry of Development reassess the situation, noting that this may cause unfair competition to small businesses, which do not have an electronic sales system. They do not even seem to think that the issue can be effectively solved by telephone orders and pick-up from the store, since -as they say- it is not easy to create outdoor sales points in the shopping streets of the cities.
E-commerce is taking off
While the rest of the market remains «dead», e-commerce is taking off day by day. Lockdown and Black Friday created an explosive combination that led to ιThe number of online purchases of products by Greek consumers is at an all-time high, according to data from the Hellenic Association of Electronic Commerce (GR.EC.A) for this past week. Traffic peaked on Friday 27 November and according to the Association's figures, from Saturday 21 to Friday 27 November, an impressive increase of 154,9% in the value of online purchases compared to the average of the previous 8 weeks of 2020 (mid-September - mid-November 2020).
It is noteworthy that there was a strong consumer buying trend, which led to the recording of 43,6% more turnover on this year's Black Friday than last year's and 73,5% higher turnover on a weekly basis, which is fully justified by the fact that physical stores were closed in November due to the lockdown.
At the same time, this year recorded and particularly high traffic growth by 78,1% compared to the same week last year in all product categories of price comparison engines, as consumers were looking for the best discounts, which touched the 79% in the categories of technology, home, fashion, entertainment and sports, health and beauty, children's and baby products, automotive and motoring, and professional goods.
