Bevh wants retailers to temporarily work on Sundays

The German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (Bevh) wants a temporary lifting of the ban on Sunday work in retail and logistics. The association thinks that, especially with regards to the upcoming Christmas shopping period, this is necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Germany is in the second Corona wave. The “lockdown light” is in effect, but even stricter restrictions are increasingly being discussed.

Tighter rules are already in place

Today, the federal and state governments said they want to agree on how to proceed together to combat the pandemic. In a joint draft, Angela Merkel and the regional leaders have agreed that Christmas shopping should be done during the week if possible. Also, in shops there may not be more than one customer per 20 square meters of sales area.

But ecommerce association Bevh thinks that those responsible have learned nothing from the first wave. In April, they had asked states, cities and municipalities to allow physical retailers to sell their goods using the Click & Collect method, even if the shops had to close their doors. This did not happen until the end of the lockdown in May.

‘It’s a type of online retail’

Now, Bevh is urgently calling for uniform rules for contactless handover of goods through Click & Collect. “Click & Collect is contactless and absolutely hygienic, it secures supplies and thus helps to withstand the crisis more easily”, general manager Christoph Wenk-Fischer saysv. “It’s important to offer retailers a perspective should the situation worsen. In addition, it would be a type of online retail, which helps the stationary trade to bind its customers locally.”

It’s important to offer retailers a perspective should the situation worsen.

And by opening physical stores on Sundays and holidays, Bevh thinks it could help to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Because it would mean that the distance regulations can be better observed, while crowds of people can be avoided. And at the same time, the utilization of local public transport would be more evenly distributed, Bevh thinks.