Instead of having the same conversation over multiple different stock threads, thought it worth creating a catch all discussion area for macro events on the entire NZ retail industry.

So Omicron has now arrived, what’s everyone’s thoughts on the length and severity of the impact on NZ retailers?

It is early days, so we likely wont see the widespread staffing and local logistics issues show up for a another few weeks, so sometime around mid-February perhaps is when things start getting seriously disrupted.

Seen mention of 24 days required isolation for household contacts of positive Omicron cases. That would likely lead to widespread staff shortages across all of retail one would imagine, as well as the logistics supply chains for retail (which would mean more impact for those businesses with high stock turnover rates).

I think it will be a rough Feb/March, but if the overseas experience is anything to go by (hard to say for sure as they are still in it), hopefully by April omicron will be past the peak and staffing/logistics issues subside.