Mainland Chinese retailers are discovering that a return to normal business after the coronavirus will take longer than expected.
Shopping malls and high-street shops have begun to reopen across the country as the worst of the pandemic which paralysed the nation in February appeared to be over. According to figures from China’s Ministry of Commerce, about four in five restaurants and cafes and 90 per cent of commercial facilities have now reopened.
But retailers are reporting footfall is well down on pre-coronavirus levels. One worker at a Walmart store in Shanghai told a reporter from the Nikkei Asian Review that customer numbers were running at about half the usual level. “Sales are not growing at all.”
Data from the China Chain Store & Franchise Association shows that more than half of companies operating shopping malls expect a decline in sales of between 30 per cent and 70 per cent during the first quarter of this year. None expect growth.
