Impact of the Pandemic on East India Retail

The East India retail industry, which has a strong presence of local and small retailers, is facing an acute cash crunch due to a sharp fall in business and operational challenges with low or zero manpower..

It has been more than 50 days since India has been in a state of lockdown due to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic and despite the government deferring loan EMIs and easing credit, micro, small and medium enterprises, and retailers are staring at a bleak future. The East India retail industry, which has a strong presence of local and small retailers, is facing an acute cash crunch due to a sharp fall in business and operational challenges with low or zero manpower. It will be a big challenge for the East Indian retail industry, which has been on growth spree over the last ten years, to overcome the current situation.

Retailers Association of India (RAI) organized a webinar called ‘East India Focus – Impact of COVID-19 on Retail Business’, the next in Coping with COVID-19’ series. Moderated by Pulkit Baid, Director, Great Eastern Retail, the webinar focused on the issues faced by retailers in East India. The speakers included retail leaders and stakeholders from the eastern region of the country:

Anurag Poddar, Director, Presto

Rachit Agarwal, Director, Simaya & Sasya

Siddharth Pansari, Director, Primarc Projects

Tejash Shah, CFO, Baazar Kolkata

The discussion was an attempt at shedding light on problems faced by the region due to the imposition of the lockdown, change in consumer behaviour and markets, and the role of various stakeholders like landlords, retailers and the government in the revival and resurgence of the economy.

Market Uncertainty