Countries all over the world have been taking different approaches to easing the Coronavirus lockdown, with quite a few nations reopening in phases. The much-awaited "Fase 2" - the second part of the Coronavirus emergency - will officially start tomorrow in Italy (and it will be obviously subject to the rate of Coronavirus infection among the population).
This is considered as a major rebooting phase that should bring a bit of relief to the economy damaged by Coronavirus. Indeed, between March and April only essential businesses were allowed to stay open in Italy (in the North, though, the emergency started at the end of February). Then a few non-essential categories - stationers, children's clothes stores and bookstores - were allowed to reopen as these shops don't usually attract big crowds. In the last few days, bars and restaurants were allowed to provide takeaway services only, but, from tomorrow, all businesses will reopen.
People will not have to carry with them any special authorisation form (as it happened during the lockdown), but they will be free to go wherever they want and shop wherever they fancy. Yet there are strict rules to respect such as practicing safe social distancing and wearing face masks in closed spaces.
Most bars and restaurants have by now installed plexiglass panels to protect consumers and staff, while it will be possible to visit hairdressers and beauticians by appointment only. Consumers who want to try on clothes and accessories will have to wear clean face masks and gloves, but the items tried on will not have to be sanitised as originally suggested. Different shops and businesses are choosing further means to provide protection, from installing stations with hand sanitiser gel to temporary barriers, from signage for social distancing such as markings inside and outside of stores to indicate correct queue distancing to encouraging cashless purchases and varying opening and closing times to welcome more people while guaranteeing safety measures.
Rebooting post-Coronavirus emergency will pose some serious challenges, though: first and foremost some businesses, from small shops to bars and restaurants may not reopen at all. Among them there are independent businesses that went bankrupt or that may not be able to readapt to the new measures and regulations and may it find difficult to access to bank loans and special emergency grants and funds. But there are also some chains that may be reconsidering closing down certain branches and going digital, strengthening in this way their online shopping operations.
Another dilemma regards consumers: after long weeks of lockdown, many of us have taken to online shopping, even those ones who had so far preferred a brick and mortar shopping experience; others may be skeptical or not feeling comfortable trying on garments while wearing gloves. So, it may take some time before consumers return to normal shopping habits and sales may not be stellar at least for the first few weeks.
There is also a dilemma about stocks: when shops closed down in Italy most of them had still on display winter clothes. The lockdown was abrupt and there was no time to put away the previous collections and replace them with the Spring/Summer stock that was on its way (and that in some cases never arrived or arrived but was left in warehouses).
Some smaller boutiques and independent shops may be quicker to sell the previous stock, maybe with special discounts (even though in this way they will end up losing money...), but the situation may be trickier for high street retailers. Some of them already have a history of burning unworn apparel. In previous cases H&M stated that it only recurred to destroying garments when they contained mold or did not comply with the strict restrictions on chemicals, but some high street retailers may argue that during the long lockdown weeks mold developed on some of these garments.
So you naturally wonder, will some retailers turn once again to burn their unsold collections or will they opt for discounting or even donating the previous stock?
Last but not least, what will happen to the factories where garments for high street retailers are produced? Safety is paramount for retail staff and consumers in this post-Coronavirus phase, but garment industry workers in Bangladesh recently complained their factories reopened without any safety measures (social distancing may not be so easy in cramped garment factories), but mainly under pressures over fears their orders may be suspended or even cancelled to favour of other countries such as Vietnam or Cambodia that have low infection rates. In a nutshell, there are many issues to take into consideration as lockdown measures are eased. Besides, only time will tell if rebooting Italy, but also other countries, under these "new normal" conditions will definitely allow to restart local and global economies, or if it will be the key to a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
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