Abstract

     The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted business operations in every industry and sector around the world. Scholars, practitioners and policymakers continue to engage in understanding the effects of lockdowns, social distancing measures and other restrictions on trade; the impact of government stimulus and support measures, and how businesses have adapted their operations. The dynamic nature of the virus, and the changing socio-political and economic landscape, provide the opportunity for empirical scholarly research examining how retail and service firms have responded to the challenges and potential opportunities presented by the pandemic, and how owner/managers have pivoted in an (often) uncertain trading environment. This paper presents the findings of an applied study involving business owners (N = 268) of SME retail and service firms in the island state of Tasmania, in Australia, during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Findings show: (1) despite over 65 per cent of respondents reporting a downturn in revenue during 2020, almost 80 per cent indicated they had confidence in business survival heading into 2021; (2) whilst on average, businesses did not rate the level of environmental hostility as being particularly high, there was a significant correlation between perceived environmental hostility and assessment of business performance and with the level of confidence of business survival; (3) Australian federal government support and other stimulus measures were deemed crucial for business survival during 2020 with three quarters of businesses accessing the ‘JobKeeper’ scheme, and (4) businesses adapted their operations during the pandemic in terms of new products and services, increased marketing, pivoting their use of technology and promoting ‘localness’.

Introduction

     In order to ensure a future where businesses not only survive, but thrive, it is critical to anticipate what a post-pandemic world will look like, and then to transform to better match this new reality (Goldberg, 2020, n.p.).

     Many small businesses are physical, not virtual. They aren’t designed for lockdown. They don’t have access to global capital. They are rooted in the communities they serve (Foroohar, 2020, n.p.).

     The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted business operations in every industry around the world and scholars, practitioners and policymakers currently seek to understand the effect of lockdowns, social distancing measures and other restrictions on trade and consumer behaviour (Beckers et al., 2021; Donthu and Gustafsson, 2020; Eger et al., 2021; Pantano et al., 2020; Verma and Gustafsson, 2020). The effect of government stimulus and support measures on business survival and prosperity are also topical and important. Despite the dynamic nature of the virus, and the consequential changes to socio-political and economic landscapes, there is still relatively little empirical scholarly research examining how small to medium enterprises (SME) have responded to the immense challenges presented by the coronavirus, and how they can adapt to a ‘new normal’ in a post-pandemic world. This study provides an important contribution to the scholarly literature on retail and service firm operations during the pandemic, and in addition, the study’s findings are valuable for business owners, policymakers and retail place managers and marketers by presenting ‘lessons learned’ from the first wave of the pandemic.

Results

۵٫۱٫ Business operations and staffing

     Respondents were asked to indicate any changes they had made to staffing and business operations as a result of the pandemic (see Table 3). Almost 40 per cent of respondents indicated they had reduced some or all staff hours; approximately 20 per cent had let staff go and did not expect to re-hire them; one third (32.46%) made no changes, and almost one quarter (21.64%) hired new staff.