New Delhi, Jun 13 (KNN) The relaxations provided by the government in May 2020 were ineffective as retailers across the board continued to witness degrowth in their businesses, said a survey by Retailers Association of India (RAI).

The Retailers Association of India (RAI) in a recent survey said that more than 150 retailers, big and small, for assessment of three months (March, April and May 2020) shows a severe degrowth in businesses across sectors and regions.

The relaxations provided by the government in May 2020 were ineffective as retailers across the board continued to lose," RAI said in a statement.

During the stringent lockdown in April 2020 and May 2020 retailers lost around 80 - 90% of their last year sales, it added.

The also revealed that large size retailers of over Rs 300 crore sales in the food and grocery segment have witnessed 86 per cent degrowth in business, while the non-food and grocery segment has seen a 75 per cent degrowth compared to last year.

On the other hand, small and medium sized retailers of less than Rs 300 crore sales in the food and grocery segment fared slightly better but still lost 33 per cent of their sales in May compared to last year.

''The survey also revealed that lockdown relaxations have been ineffective in stimulating retail across geographies as all regions have impacted almost the same with degrowth of 76% to 81% in May 2020 Y-o-Y','' RAI added.

Commenting on the findings of the business survey, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India said, “Retailers are amongst the most resilient entrepreneurs of the Indian ecosystem. Despite the lockdown relaxations, retailers are still facing a challenging time to revive their business. The impact on retail across the country is concerning and it will take a considerable amount of time for retailers to return to the green.''

''We trust the Government and other stakeholders will take note of this situation and help in boosting customer sentiment by enabling smooth functioning of retails stores across the nation by addressing state and local level issues,” he added.

The business survey further shows that beauty and wellness, footwear and apparel and clothing were most impacted. The Beauty and Wellness segment witnessed a slump of 75% degrowth, followed by footwear at 67% and apparel and clothing at 66%, it said.

''The trend was largely similar across turnovers as the industry lost 40% sales in Mar 2020 followed by 70 - 90% losses in April and May 2020 compared to the corresponding year last year,'' RAI asserted.