Trade is drying up on Mondays and Fridays in Bendigo, heaping extra pressure on retailers in an already tough economy.
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Businesses are watching foot traffic take a hit in places like the city centre as more professionals set aside days to work from home, Be.Business chief executive Rob Herbert said.
"I'm generalising here but the view is that on Mondays and Fridays there are less people around because they are working from home," he said.
It leaves smaller businesses making difficult decisions about exactly when to open, especially if they are having problems recruiting staff or customers turn up expecting open stores, Mr Herbert said.
"There are those with an expectation that businesses will be open when it's convenient for consumers, and by and large they try to be, but the practicalities are that if they don't have the staff or are operating at a loss they can only do that for so long," he said.
About six per cent of Australian small and medium sized businesses have cut store hours in the past year, one new survey by the Australian Retailers Association partnered with American Express shows.
The survey shed new light on the pressures many businesses are facing even when they keep trading hours stable.
Twelve per cent of those surveyed had cut staff and 24 per cent had passed higher costs onto customers.
'It is going to get harder before it gets any easier' in Bendigo
2023 ushered in a perfect storm of spending slowdowns, rising costs and a string of government reforms, retailers association chief executive Paul Zahra said.
"I cannot recall a period of more significant challenge for our retail community - with our small retailers disproportionately affected by ongoing revenue and resource pressures," he said.
Mr Zahra said the 385 retailers his group surveyed had remained resilient so far.
Many were absorbing cost increases by reducing margins and looking for savings, and had made keeping and getting more customers their top priority.
In Bendigo, Mr Herbert did not see pressure easing on businesses until rising costs were back under control.
"In terms of the level of optimism, certainly over the next 12 months it is going to get harder before it gets any easier," he said.
Customers too were likely to cut back as the shock of high interest rates hit more households.
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"The biggest movement of people from fixed to variable mortgage rates is happening as we speak," Mr Herbert said.
"Some who were on rates that were 3.5 per cent cheaper are now going to have to pay a hell of a lot more for their mortgages.
"That will place further pressure on available spend for households."
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
