Wellbeing in Retail
This sector report is part of the first ever BDO Wellbeing in Business Index - Te Rangahau o ngā hauora pai - which studies the relationship between business performance and wellbeing among New Zealand’s business leaders and owners. View the main report and our other sector commentary here.
VIEW THE WELLBEING IN RETAIL REPORT
The retail sector scored the lowest in the WHO-5 index of all our surveyed industries, scoring just 56 out of 100 (the whole of business average was 69). Nearly two thirds (65%) of retailers also said that in the last 6 months they have been feeling less mentally healthy than normal – this was the highest percentage among our focus industries.
This was perhaps unsurprising. COVID-19 caused the biggest shock to the industry that many retail businesses have ever seen. They were unable to make any income for significant periods over the last two years. Even now that we are hopefully over the worst of the pandemic, the fall-out remains.
Nearly half (46%) said that supply chain issues were negatively impacting their mental wellbeing. Joint second at 38% was external economic and political factors and business systems and technology challenges.
The business systems and technology challenges came as something of a surprise. This was by far the highest score for this category among our key industries, and perhaps highlights the increasingly urgent need for retailers to incorporate some form of online shopping to reach customers who are no longer going into the CBD.
There are a number of ways retail businesses can overcome the key challenges facing them today – read more in our Wellbeing in retail sector report.
VIEW THE REPORT
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Contact our specialist Retail sector team here