A few decades ago, a bus trip to Valletta was the most affordable and sought after retail therapy experience for most people. Republic and Merchants streets were the Mecca for shoppers who sought some excitement away from our quiet town and villages that mainly had just a few retail outlets in the form of grocery shops, Spartan pharmacies, bakeries and ironmongers. These were not much different from the dingy grocery shop that were so well depicted in the 1970s BBC comedy Open All Hours.
The landscape of retail business has evolved and, in the 1990s, partly as a result of the increasing importance of the tourism industry, outlets took the form of supermarkets and department stores that found a fertile ground for expansion mainly in tourist destinations. Retailers in and in other smaller towns and villages now feel nostalgic about the good old days when cash tills kept ringing as customers crowded their poky shops. Profit margins were substantial and competition was limited and the customers’ demand for good quality and efficient service was rather subdued.
The retail business community realises that change is needed to revitalise small businesses. They want change to be gradual and, as a first step, they are pointing out that they want to see our archaic shop opening hours to change so that retailers can open for longer hours to attract new business and cater for consumers’ increasing demand for better service.
The Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, Chris Cardona, confirmed that the government is “seriously considering” extending shop opening hours, following confirmation in a survey that a majority of members of the Chamber of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises – GRTU that they were in favour of such changes.
It would be a mistake to think that extended opening hours will resolve the issue of a fall in popularity of physical retail businesses. The virtual market that exists thanks to the internet makes it possible to source the best products at the most competitive prices from almost anywhere in the world. There was a time when the range of goods and services available online was limited. Up to some time ago, one could just buy online books, CDs and small items that could easily be packed in an envelope.
Today, a whole range of products and services are available, thanks to improved courier services, more pragmatic practices by Customs officers and safer means of electronic payments through systems like Pay Pal. Local consumers are known to even order fitted kitchens from retailers in Italy who can provide a wider range of models than is available locally and with faster installation.
Although it is a fact that retail businesses in this country have been facing difficult times in recent years, one needs to ask whether the strategy they are adopting to revitalise their industry is the most effective one. Poor public transport, continuous road works in Valletta, lack of security of tenure of those leasing government-owned property and inadequate parking facilities are, undoubtedly, factors that make physical retail outlets less customer friendly.
But to win over consumers’ hearts retailers need to invest more in good ITC systems that facilitate communication between seller and buyer and ease payment without the actual need to travel physically to retail outlets.
Some local retailers have made a genuine effort to make their bricks-and-mortar delivery channels more attractive by introducing e-commerce. But more needs to be done as many local retailers’ websites are still dull and unattractive.