In the US, store closures are at an all-time high. 

Business Insider Intelligence

With 88% of total sales, brick-and-mortar is still the dominant driver of retail spend in the country, but in-store earnings aren't growing fast enough to keep the doors open.

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Sharp differences have emerged within handset makers and retailers over the treatment of devices during the lockdown.

"All standalone (single) shops, neighborhood (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential," the ministry of home affairs said in a notification on Friday.

Maruti Suzuki restarted operations at 680 dealerships till Wednesday, covering almost 35% of the addressable market. The nation’s largest carmaker is seeking permission from local authorities to reopen all but 500 of its remaining over 2,400 outlets. The 500 showrooms are in Covid-19 containment zones.

Nitin Gadkari, the minister for MSME and road transport and highways, also called upon the retailers to start exploring option of home delivery.

News you don't want to miss for May 4:

1. Businesses such as bookstores, florists, clothing retailers, among others, can begin to reopen on Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced, according to the Associated Press.…

“The idea of store-on-wheels is that customers should not feel suffocated that they can’t go out and shop, and feel the same pleasure right at their doorsteps,” said Vishnu Prasad, managing director of Future Lifestyle Fashions that owns Central and Brand Factory.

“The idea of store-on-wheels is that customers should not feel suffocated that they can’t go out and shop, and feel the same pleasure right at their doorsteps,” said Vishnu Prasad, managing director of Future Lifestyle Fashions that owns Central and Brand Factory.

Major retail chains including Viveks, Shahs, Girias, Vasanth and Co are among the signatories of the letter, which fears job losses might start impacting one lakh of families, besides a steep drop in direct and indirect tax revenues to the state.

Major mall operators in the country risk losing 20-25% of their annual revenue due to the shutdown, as per a report by ICICI Securities.

Around 75 retailers that operate 200 brands have written a letter to mall owners, seen by TOI, stating that revenue-share percentage should be a flat percentage depending on the category of stores. They suggested, for instance, revenue-sharing percentage for vanilla brands should be 10-12%, including common area maintenance (CAM), while for fast food brands and large format lifestyle stores, it should be 7-8%.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's stay-at-home order is ending Friday as salons open on Friday and restaurants open on Monday.

Industry watchers say wholesalers are holding back stocks of popular phone models in anticipation of a price rise by the month-end as production in China slows; brands as yet unaware of complaints.

"We strongly appeal to you to not increase GST on mobiles. The increase of 6% would directly lead to hike in prices of product, impacting consumer behaviour leading to a slowdown in demand affecting business adversely,” said the letter written by AIMRA national president Arvinder Khurana.

The industry body represents 1.50 lakh mobile retailers who may be unable to pay their monthly instalments and interest towards credit cards, vehicle loan, home loan and business loans taken by them. A similar letter highlighting the concerns of the mobile retailers was also sent to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs).

“We would appreciate it if the Finance Ministry could approach the RBI or the respective authorities to direct NBFCs and Banks to waive off DBD (dealer by down) and MDR (merchant discount rate) charges to retailers on paper finance and on digital transactions for at least 6 months post lockdown,” All India Mobile Retailers Association said in a letter to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

“We recommend allowing all physical shops dealing on sales, repair and service activity of mobile phones, mobile devices (laptops and tablets) and their supporting accessories to be opened on a limited basis (three days a week for five hours) with limited number of staff,” AIMRA said in an April 17 letter to union home minister Amit Shah.

All India Mobile Retailer Association (AIMRA), which represents 1.5 lakh such retailers across the country, wrote to commerce minister Piyush Goyal to not consider mobile handsets as essential items.

"All standalone (single) shops, neighborhood (colony) shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential," the ministry of home affairs said in a notification on Friday.

"We have 2,200 exclusive dealers or retailers and therefore what has worked well for us is this exclusive chain right from manufacturing to the consumer."

Major retail chains including Viveks, Shahs, Girias, Vasanth and Co are among the signatories of the letter, which fears job losses might start impacting one lakh of families, besides a steep drop in direct and indirect tax revenues to the state.

The revenue growth of organised gold jewellery retailers could halve to 5-6% (compound annual growth rate) in the current and next fiscals, compared with 12% in the preceding three fiscals, a CRISIL study of 44 such retailers it rates shows.

It is a tough time for apparel retailers who are looking at zero offline revenues and a steep drop in online sales. The latest dress or the pair of khakis may not be able to save them.

Traditionally in India, baby garments like rompers, dresses, and inner-wear were purchased from small stores while branded garments were bought by the wealthy.

A shopping mall in LA called 'The Grove and Beverly Center' has added more hand sanitizing stations, while Glossier, a cosmetic store, is closing all stores: "We are ready to put public health before our results.".

The three-member appellate court panel ruled Tuesday that the county has legal authority to ban recreational marijuana businesses from unincorporated areas.

The Fair Work Ombudsman will be auditing retailers across Perth and regional Western Australia, in response to a spike in complaints.

Some families are already taking advantage of "demand response", reducing their bills by cutting their electricity use at peak times. But a move to promote competition in the demand response market has come up against some serious opposition.

A Victorian vet believes he has found a solution to one of the wool industry's biggest hurdles: surgical mulesing.

Retailers still operating online and distributing from warehouses during the coronavirus pandemic can now prevent people who are potentially infected with the virus from entering their premises, with the installation of remote, fever-detecting CCTV equipment.

(United States Supreme Court) - Struck down a Tennessee requirement that applicants for a license to operate a retail liquor store have resided in the State for the prior two years. Held that the residency requirement violates the Commerce Clause because it blatantly favors the State's residents and has little relationship to public health and safety, and further held that the Twenty-first Amendment does not save the state law. Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the 7-2 Court.

A fundraising initiative spearheaded by Canadian comic retailers and creators aims to auction off items in order to support their struggling industry.

The post Zdarsky, Fabok, & more ask you to “Be Our Heroes” for Canadian retailers appeared first on The Beat.

An IBM (NYSE: IBM) study of 26,000 consumers from 14 countries -- including almost 2,000 Australians.-- found that over 60% of Australian consumers identify themselves as “apathetic” in their choice of primary retailer – almost double those who see themselves as advocates of a particular retailer. As such Australian retailers have a significant opportunity to capture shopper loyalty, but they need to capitalise on existing investments in multi-channel and accelerate customer engagement across all channels, including mobile devices and social media platforms in order to win in this globally competitive sector.

IBM, (NYSE: IBM) today announced the findings of its 2016 Global Customer Experience Index (CEI) Study, which showed that Australia is above the global average when it comes to providing a good shopping experience for consumers, with a CEI rating of 43 percent compared with 40 percent globally. The results provided a snapshot of the Australian retail sector, revealing that some businesses are still struggling to provide a seamless cross-channel experience, personalisation and convenience for customers.

Indiana is reopening its economy after its coronavirus closures. Here's what shoppers should know about how malls, stores, salons and gyms will return

It comes after reports that garden centres in England and Wales are set to reopen.

National Association of Wine Retailers Release Letter Delivered to Attorneys General and Alcohol Regulatory Chiefs Concerning Unconstitutional and Unenforceable Wine Shipping Bans

(PRWeb April 15, 2020)

Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/wine_retailers_seek_alcohol_shipping_compromise_with_18_states/prweb17050617.htm

Thomson (Family)

Many retailers are eager to hear more details from the province about when and how they should reopen after weeks of being closed to the public. The next phase of recovery is expected to start Friday.

Investec's Value Fund has for the first time since 2000 ditched any exposure to big four banking stocks and major retail groups.

Realising that sourcing within India helps cut costs, Uniqlo established an office in Bengaluru in 2016 to identify and work with partner factories in India. The company currently procures cotton fibre from India, as a result.

Some retailers are using technology to resolve customer queries, and offer customers a better shopping experience

After Vivo and Xiaomi, Samsung is also kicking off an online to offline sales strategy.

The French Competition Authority (FCA) is entitled to give advisory opinions on any competition matter, in particular for the attention  of the French Government and the Parliament. The FCA has been recently asked to give its opinion on coopera...

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This month Visa Europe announced its expansion of V.me, a digital wallet service which will be available to the majority of internet shoppers in the UK before the end of 2015. V.me launched in 2013 following a surge in the use of smartphones and tab...

It has been reported that the European Commission (the “Commission”) is asking retailers to detail the difficulties they face while trying to sell their products online, as part of the lengthy questionnaires sent to the retailers followi...

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