The ongoing pandemic is one of the biggest threats to an already under pressure retail vertical around the world. At the end of last year, world monitory bodies were predicting a gradual global economic slowdown, but this pandemic applied sudden brakes and the world economy has come to a screeching halt.
According to a recent report by Retailers Association of India, around 25 percent of retailers would require a serious infusion of capital, to help them deal with the impact of the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to check the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), else they would be out of business.
Since we started writing this paper, the lockdown in India has been extended by another 3 weeks. It has become clear that these are extraordinary circumstances, that would have a major impact on the economy for a longer period of time than originally anticipated..