The group provides recommendations for action after the reopening
After the first shops in Austria were allowed to reopen after a four-week shutdown, consumers are clearly showing reluctance. Even in the Netherlands, where most shops are still open, customers of the GMS group are recording lower sales compared to the previous year. “Except for children’s shoe stores, we are experiencing a clear consumer reluctance,” states GMS managing director Dr. Karsten Niehus. “It probably takes more than open shop doors to fuel consumer desire again.” From this, concrete recommendations for action can also be derived for Germany for the period after the shutdown has been relaxed.
The Cologne group's renewed recommendation is therefore to address end customers through online and offline campaigns. This could be done alone or better in the advertising community. Above all, together with others it can be possible to generate the necessary desire to buy.
The GMS Association also recommends appropriately adapted, step-by-step personnel deployment planning with consideration for employees who are particularly at risk. In any case, employees should only be gradually removed from short-time work and rents should continue to be paid at a reduced rate. “If sales are 50 percent, the costs can also be a maximum of 50 percent,” says Niehus. “In the Netherlands, some of our dealers are alone in business and can therefore earn money and pay their bills without personnel and rental costs, even with reduced sales,” adds co-managing director Thomas Schulte-Huermann.
Finally, businesses that are not currently experiencing acute economic problems should prepare for weaker sales in the next few months and apply for the KfW loans and grants on offer. “We are still noticing a certain reluctance among some of our customers, especially those with excellent credit ratings, when applying for KfW loans. In the past 15 years, none of our customers have ever gotten into trouble because of too much capital. “That’s why we urgently advise every specialist retailer to take advantage of the affordable liquidity assistance offered by the state,” said Dr. Karsten Niehus.
