Retail jobs , which are the most common in Australia, are increasingly at risk as the coronavirus threatens supply chains and stops Australians from going to the shops.
More than half a million people work behind a cash register, but that is set to change, amid fears quarantining will soon become a way of life.
Even before the onset of COVID-19, retailers were suffering from the worst-ever Christmas and New Year trade as the summer bushfires made a bad situation even worse.
Thousands of Australian sales assistants could be at risk of losing their job amid our national retail apocalypse (stock image)
Official statistics found the top five most common jobs in Australia including sales assistants, registered nurses, general clerks, retail managers and receptionists
The 2016 census revealed there are 526,010 sales assistants, making it Australia’s most common job.
Since that time, retailers have continued to struggle, with sales growth in 2019 the slowest since the 1991 recession, as wages growth continued to stagnate.
Household names like Harris Scarfe, Bardot, Roger David, and Napoleon Perdis have closed dozens of stores, sparking heavy job losses.
Department stores Myer, David Jones and Big W have also cut back.
Myer closed 74,670 square metres of stores in 2015-17 and shut down its Colonnades store in Adelaide and its Belconnen outlet in Canberra.
Its Hornsby store, in Sydney’s north, closed in January after 40 years, with discounts of up to 80 per cent offered.
David Jones, owned by South African conglomerate Woolworths since 2014, last year declared Australia was caught in a ‘retail recession’.
A flagship store in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley is set to close in June after only three years.
Its parent company, Woolworths Holdings, said in August it would begin ‘aggressively’ closing stores after profits fell by 42 per cent in a year.
Myer’s Hornsby store, in Sydney’s north, closed in January after 40 years with discounts of 80 per cent offered
Three Big W stores in Sydney closed in January with 27 more set to shut their doors.
The discount department store chain, owned by Woolworths Group, made the closures after losing $85million in 2019 and $110million in 2018.
Australian retail growth is at its worst level since the early 1990s recession and international giants like Amazon and Aldi threaten to further the shake up.
Ben James, Director of Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys, said stores suffered as a result of the bushfires.
‘Bushfires in January negatively impacted a range of retail businesses across a variety of industries,’ Mr James said.
‘Retailers reported a range of impacts that reduced customer numbers, including interruptions to trading hours and tourism.
Experts are fearing that the coronavirus could result in 100,000 people being left without a job on top of the already 750,000 unemployed that were recorded in January.
Many retailers including Ed Harry, Diana Ferrari, Napoleon Perdis, Ziera and Bardot have been forced to close due to a massive down turn in our retail economy (stock image)
Shopping malls that were once full of eager customers have since been turned into ghost towns with a string of retailers being forced to close their doors for good.
Worried customers are avoiding public settings in fear of contracting the disease, leading to plunging foot traffic at retail hubs around the country.
Some retailers are struggling to get stock after Chinese warehouses and production lines were closed in the wake of the disease.
Experts claim that the could be the tip of the iceberg as consumers continue to turn more to online shopping over conventional sources.
‘It’s going to be a very poor first half of the year for retailers,’ Commonwealth Bank senior economist Gareth Aird told The Sydney Morning Herald. ‘And this is when they were already struggling anyway.’
In January, retail turnover fell 0.3 per cent, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics Retail Trade figures.
This follows a 0.7 per cent drop in December.
Many retailers are reeling from the impacts of Australia’s bushfire season, with the outbreak of coronavirus set to continue their woes into 2020 (stock image)
Department stores took the biggest hit with sales falling 2.2 per cent and personal accessory retailing fell 1.1 per cent.
The ACT suffered the most with sales dropping by 2.3 per cent, while Western Australia had sales plummet by 1.1 per cent.
New South Wales and Queensland sales both dropped by 0.1 per cent.
The pressure of online retail is believed to have contributed to the drops in store sales with online stock making up 6.3 per cent of total retail in January this year.
Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said a decline in tourism has also played a major role to the decline of retail shopping.
The travel ban on Chinese tourists has hit high-end retailers in particular.
‘The number two thing that everyone likes to do when they go on holidays is shop,’ Ms Ormond said.
‘With the travel ban, that tap has been completely turned off, and it’s having a really significant impact.’