Next suspends online shopping amid UK coronavirus outbreak
Next has suspended all online operations in order to protect staff amid the UK coronavirus outbreak.
The high street retailer said it has made the “difficult decision” to keep warehouse and distribution staff safe as the number of UK coronavirus cases continues to rise.
The company said in a statement last night:
Next has listened very carefully to its colleagues working in warehousing and distribution operations to fulfill Online orders. It is clear that many increasingly feel they should be at home in the current climate.
Next has therefore taken the difficult decision to temporarily close its online, warehousing and distribution operations from this evening, Thursday 26 March 2020. Next will not be taking any more online orders after this time until further notice.
Next’s share price sank 5.7 per cent to 4,252p in early trading.
Richard Lim, CEO of research house Retail Economics, said: “The decision to effectively shut down the website shows staff shortages are playing havoc with keeping the business operational. Online was the only channel to drive any source of income and the tap has been completely turned off.”
It follows both River Island and Moss Bros in shutting its online shopping operations.
They both shut their warehouses and online businesses to protect workers.
“The government has said online retailers can ‘operate normally’, but Covid-19 is serious and nothing feels normal at the moment,” River Island said.
“Right now, we need to put our people first and so we’ve made the difficult decision to temporarily close our distribution centre.”
And Retail Economics warned more are likely to follow suit.
“For many non-essential retailers that had to shut stores, online was their lifeline to continue trading, albeit at much lower levels because of capacity constraints,” chief executive Richard Lim added.
“Whether this shutdown will have longer-term scarring effects is dependent on the underlying health of the business and whether they can survive a cash crunch in the coming months.
“For many retailers, cash flow will soon turn negative and the question is how long these companies can continue to operate without additional financing.”
Next has already warned of a “very significant” sales blow from the UK coronavirus outbreak.
When the pandemic first appeared in China, we assumed that the threat was to our supply chain,” Next said.
“It is now very clear that the risk to demand is by far the greatest challenge we face,” the retailer said earlier this month.
“And we need to prepare for a significant downturn in sales for the duration of the pandemic.”
Next warned demand will be hardest hit from the UK coronavirus outbreak.
Even before closing its online shopping operations, Next warned digital revenue will also suffer.
“People do not buy a new outfit to stay at home,” Next pointed out.