Demand For Retail Commodities In Sharp Decline

The president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR), Mr Denford Mutashu has indicated that sales volumes in the sector have significantly dropped due to weakening consumer spending and rising inflation.

Speaking to the Chronicle on Thursday, Mutashu, also revealed that retailers were suffering loss as a result of the increased cost of doing business when the demand has dwindled. He said:

The general demand has dropped by 40 per cent. The volumes have actually gone down by 60 per cent for high-value items (non-basic goods).

On buying groceries the high-value items or non-essential products have been affected because we have demand dropping by more than 50 per cent while on electrical gadgets it’s about 60 per cent. On the basic commodities or non-essential commodities, demand is still going down by about 40 per cent.

His remarks come at a time when prices of commodities have been going up at an unparalleled rate making them unaffordable for the majority of consumers.

Prices of commodities are normally affected by exchange rates and fuel prices. Businesses need foreign currency to restock whilst fuel is significant for the production and the transportation of commodities.

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