In recent years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 (Chinese Communist Virus) pandemic, the extreme lockdown policies imposed by the Chinese Communist Party, coupled with the continuous economic decline in China, have posed serious challenges to the physical retail industry. Currently, mainland shopping malls are deserted, stores are closing down, and physical stores are struggling, a phenomenon seen nationwide. The owners of large supermarkets in China have expressed deep anxiety, distress, and fear about the current severe recession, which has created a vicious cycle.
In a county in Zhejiang Province, a woman in her 80s named “Hongjie” who has been running a supermarket for 14 years posted a video on April 19, expressing her views on the economic recession being a vicious cycle. She mentioned that business at the supermarket is slow, with goods from suppliers approaching their expiration dates, especially beverages that have expired for a year by the time they reach her store. Some suppliers or salespeople even suggest selling these expired products directly to customers, ignoring the expiration dates.
She further revealed that in previous years during the Lunar New Year period, gift boxes that were usually sold well for gifting purposes remained unsold this year, with some store owners having thousands of unsold boxes in stock.
Expressing her sorrow, “Hongjie” stated that she clearly feels the oppressive atmosphere this year. The anxiety in the air and the bleak environment have caused immense stress, making her feel fearful and unsure of what to do next.
A few days ago, “Hongjie” shared another video where she mentioned the lack of business at her 300-square-meter store, causing her distress, anxiety, and great difficulty. She mentioned that after 15 hours of being open, she only managed to sell two packs of cigarettes, generating a revenue of just over 700 Chinese Yuan.
She explained that one of her cash registers had 36 transactions totaling 1456 yuan, while the other had 22 transactions totaling 1538 yuan, with cigarette sales being slightly better that day. Despite staying open for 15 hours, she couldn’t even cover the rent. She emphasized the exhaustion and fatigue she felt due to the difficult situation.
In another video shared by a member of the Hainan Writers Association known as “The Lecturing Frog” on April 19, he described the desolate scene at the “Sanya Mingzhu Square” in Hainan – one of the largest standalone shopping centers in Hainan, with eight floors above ground and one below. Despite being 11 a.m., the place was empty from the first floor to the eighth, indicating the overall poor business climate.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which began spreading in early 2020, has had a significant negative impact on the Chinese economy due to the ineffective epidemic prevention measures of the Chinese Communist Party and the persistence of the “dynamic zero COVID” policy, leading to extreme lockdown measures that have severely affected the economy, especially the retail sector.
According to incomplete statistics from Yilan Business, in 2022, nearly 7000 physical stores across various retail formats closed down. Among these closures, 1138 were supermarkets, 35 were department stores, 287 were restaurants, 757 were beauty and personal care stores, 4723 were clothing stores, and 29 were cinemas.
The impact of epidemic-related lockdowns on the physical retail sector is an undeniable fact. Even before the pandemic, the overall Chinese economy was already in a slump, with the epidemic exacerbating the economic decline.
By the end of 2022, the Chinese government had to relax epidemic control measures, but the damage done to the retail industry was irreversible. Many stores that couldn’t withstand the impact have shut down.
Since 2023, the much-anticipated retaliatory consumption in the retail sector has not materialized, with slow growth in various consumption data and the consumer price index hovering around the critical level. Overall supermarket performance has worsened.
According to statistics from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, from January to September 2023, nationwide supermarket sales declined by 0.4% year-on-year. The disappointing sales during the “Golden Week” in October were unexpected, with over half of the 47 surveyed supermarket enterprises reporting sales drops, a phenomenon unseen in the industry’s 30-year history.
Self-media personality “Funny Today” believes that the true causes of the retail slump involve demographic changes, consumer purchasing power, and various other factors that may not be openly discussed.