Page 38 - BNE_magazine_06_2020 Growers

38 I Central Europe bne June 2020
Retail sales have tumbled in nearly every country.
Retail sales under lockdown across Central and Eastern Europe are sinking
bne IntelliNews
Aworldwide lockdown has created havoc for retailers as their customers are forced to stay at home. There has been a little respite as sales in March surged due to panic buying, and online sales have soared as punters explore the home-delivery options, many of them for the first time. But overall sales volumes are down and are likely to remain depressed for months to come.
Worst hit have been counties in Eastern Europe, partly as the coronavirus (COVID-19) has hit them hard, but more because food makes up about half of the shopping basket and a larger share of the population will see wage cuts or lose their jobs entirely.
The citizens of Eastern Europe have lived through multiple crises and the routine is well worn. Most go into savings mode, cutting or cancelling big ticket purchase plans. However, there are surges in the purchase of things such as apartments, cars and washing machines as the population anticipate dramatic devaluations and look for stores of value for cash savings they have at home. But these surges are short-lived reactions to the start of a crisis.
In Central Europe where economies
are more stable and the effects of the downturn are less severe the impact on retail is less serious, but locking people up at home will nevertheless hurt
many businesses and many retailers are expected to go out of business, as they simply do not have the financial resources to go months with their doors closed.
EASTERN EUROPE Russia
Russia’s retail sector got off to a strong start in 2020. After almost six years of stagnation, incomes had finally started to grow again in the fourth quarter as the government rushed to spend money on its 12 national projects.
But while the coronavirus crisis was still a month away, Russia had already been hit by the collapse of the OPEC+ production cut deal on March 6, which