Retailers call for $6000 small business grant to set up online stores in wake of COVID-19

The National Retail Association (NRA) is calling for a $6,000 e-commerce assistance package for every small business hurting financially as a result of COVID-19 to help them sell goods and services online.

Buoyed by Australia Post statistics that online shopping is booming during the pandemic – with August 2020 being labelled the biggest month in Australian online shopping history – the NRA believes that now is the time for small enterprises to sort out their digital offering.

NRA Deputy CEO Lindsay Carroll told 9News.com.au that the package could come in the form of a loan or even reduced taxable income for small and medium businesses.

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"This package would be to help small business either accelerate their digital transformation or elevate their existing online presence," Ms Carroll said.

"We need more a targeted and solution-based focus for small businesses who are trying to recover from not only COVID but the onslaught of bushfires and drought.

"They could use the $6,000 assistance package to upskill or fill digital skills gaps, or it could go towards creating a social media page or an online store."

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Not only would the digitisation trend enable rural and regional business owners to connect with customers around the country, it would cause a secondary boom in the digital learning and e-commerce market.

Sagar Sethi, Director of digital marketing agency Xugar in Melbourne, said that businesses that fail to have their products available online are severely restricting their customer base.

"We know that foot traffic is down under COVID, but we also know that digital selling has gone through the roof as people shop from home," said Mr Sethi.

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"What a digital transformation package would do is help connect local businesses with local consumers, and even reach new customers further afield.

"We're proposing the government provide a $6000 loan, which is enough to help businesses establish an ecommerce platform. That loan can be repaid at a later date as revenue picks up."

To date the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – and the havoc it wreaked on shopping centres, non-essential retail and consumer spending – has cost the Australian economy billions and plunged it into the first recession since 1991.

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Australian Bureau of Statistics numbers released on Friday show that retail turnover fell 4 per cent in August 2020, led by a dramatic 12.6 per cent plunge in Victoria.

"Victoria, which faced Stage 3 and 4 restrictions in August, fell 12.6 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms," said Ben James, Director of Quarterly Wide Surveys at the ABS.

"All industries fell in August, as trading restrictions in Victoria drove falls at a national level.

"Household goods retailing (-6.0 per cent), other retailing (-5.1 per cent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-10.5 per cent), cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (-6.6 per cent), and department stores (-8.9 per cent) saw large falls. Food retailing (-0.2 per cent) saw a minor fall."

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