A possible consequence of the pandemic? The President of the German Institute for Economic Research is in favor of more flexible shop opening times. His main concern is competition with online retail.
The German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) has spoken out in favor of easing shop opening times in view of the problems faced by many retailers.
“A liberalization of the shop opening hours is urgently required so that the stationary retail trade can assert itself in the competition against the online trade and secure jobs,” said DIW President Marcel Fratzscher of the “Handelsblatt” (Saturday). The shift to online trading in the pandemic will not be completely reversed.
According to the report, Fratzscher sees politics as an obligation to ensure fair competition. That does not mean that people can shop online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but the stationary retail trade has a “tight corset” and must also be closed on Sundays. “Instead of sanctions or taxes for online trading, politics should make stationary retail more attractive,” the economist was quoted as saying.
The trade association HDE had called for help again this week in order to counteract sales losses. “In the short term, with a view to a powerful restart after the pandemic, it should be open to all retailers to open their doors to all customers at least the remaining Sundays this year,” said Managing Director Stefan Genth of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine”.
In the Corona year 2020, the retail sector was able to increase its sales more strongly than it has for a long time, but online trading in particular was booming. The US group Amazon achieved almost 29.6 billion dollars (25 billion euros) in sales in Germany, which is more than 30 percent more than in 2019. Grocery stores and furniture and home improvement stores also did good business. The textile trade, on the other hand, plunged deep into the crisis.
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