In a world where e-commerce is becoming more and more important, physical businesses must adapt and find new formulas to continue to operate. On the political side, we also want to find solutions to give new possibilities to traders. This Wednesday, several proposals are on the table of the Economy Committee of the Federal Parliament. We take stock party by party.
On the side of cd&v, Leen Dierick pleads for the weekly rest day to be the same for a period of 3 months instead of the current 6 months. She also believes that municipalities could be able to grant exemptions for 30 days a year, instead of the current 15 days. At PS, it is Leslie Leoni who represents the party. The MP wants to subject certain categories of night shops to municipal authorization in order to reduce nuisance. It also speaks of an exemption for stores (> 150 m²) in hospitals to adapt to visiting hours.
But the most talked about proposals come from MR and of theOpen VLD. The deputy-mayor of Waterloo Florence Reuter as well as Benoît Piedboeuf want to put on the table the extension of the general opening hours until 10 p.m. There is also talk of derogating from the fixed weekly day of rest once a month, per establishment unit. Kathleen Verhelst (Open VLD) also supports the possibility of opening businesses later, but goes further for the mandatory rest day, which would simply be abolished. Finally, it also pleads for the removal of the exception for shopping Sundays and tourist centres.
The furious SNI: “The same turnover and more costs”
What arouse a whole series of reactions, in particular on the side of the SNI, the Neutral Union for the Independents, which presented its point of view during a hearing for the members of the Economy Committee of the Federal Parliament. “The two most striking bills are the general extension of opening hours to 10 p.m. and the abolition of the compulsory weekly rest day. The arguments revolve around the principle of “freedom”: more freedom for the entrepreneur who can organize his business activities as he wishes on the one hand, and more freedom for the “modern consumer” who wants to make his purchases when he wishes on the other hand. At first glance, this all sounds good, but what does this freedom mean in practice?“, asks the SNI, which fears perverse effects at different levels.
“First of all, an extension of the opening hours will entail a commercial obligation to be open longer. You can’t be the only one to close your doors, because that would create competition. Besides the obvious but important argument of the work-life balance of the self-employed, the financial aspect also plays an important role: being open longer means higher personnel and energy costsdetails the union. The question is whether this is compensated by additional turnover. The answer is a definite no. Customers won’t spend more money because they can shop at other times. They will spread their purchases over time, with a negative financial effect for the retailer: the same turnover and more costs.“
Also according to the SNI, such proposals will not bring back customers who have become accustomed to shopping 24 hours a day on the internet. “Whether physical stores need to adapt to this to remain profitable is debatable. Customers who choose to visit a physical store do so for the “shopping experience” and therein lies the big challenge for retailers.“
An opinion which also results from results obtained following a survey of its members. “A recent survey of our members showed that 6 out of 10 traders consider the idea of keeping the trade open until 10pm to be a bad idea. The same number is against the abolition of Sunday rest (63%). Today, merchants are free to choose their opening hours between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. (or 9 p.m.). 56% don’t think it’s a good idea to move two hours so that opening hours are between 7am and 10pm.“
In summary, the SNI is against an extension of opening hours and in favor of maintaining a weekly rest day and made this known during the hearing in Parliament. “Because the freedom of the consumer is not that of the merchant“, concludes the union.