We're all feeling the brunt and irritation of the on-going load-shedding, but until I recently witnessed the closed doors of some large department stores and disgruntled shoppers milling around, waiting for them to reopen, I hadn't given much thought to the revenue lost by retailers who have been rendered, well, powerless. Where are the generators? Who's responsible for implementing a back-up plan - the retailers themselves or centre management? And what about all those lost sales - is there insurance for that? Can they sue for lost income? With Christmas fast approaching, retailers can not afford the downtime, retailers have asked Eskom to review weekend load-shedding, but whether their plea will be successful is still to be seen... Till then, enjoy your candlelit dinners... of peanut butter sandwiches...
Shan Radcliffe, Group Head - Retail (@Biz_Retail) Image: © bilderundvektor - 123RF.com Comment online in our ed's column archive. Go mobile with apps and m.bizcommunity.com. Engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Subscribe to YouTube and via RSS. Send all your retail news and event invitations to retailnews@bizcommunity.com, exclusive opinion pieces to contributors-retail@bizcommunity.com and international news to internationalnews@bizcommunity.com. Read "How to contribute to Biz, from op-ed pieces to news".