The three-pronged burden facing retailers – keeping staff safe, plummeting sales and brand damage for those stores that do remain open – meant it was becoming increasingly untenable to keep bricks-and-mortar stores operating, Mr Zimmerman said.
"Retail is staring down the barrel of sales that have gone down by approximately 75 per cent," Mr Zimmerman said, adding store owners were only making enough money to cover wages.
"How do you pay for your stock? For services? Your utilities bills? There is insufficient money going through to operate a business. If you continue to operate your business in this fashion, you will become technically bankrupt."
Mr Zimmerman said a lack of force majeure clauses that include pandemics meant business owners are still legally responsible for covering lease payments and, while the industry supports the federal government's work around wage support, it awaits further guidance on rents.
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The private sector has stepped in to support with rents, with Australian banks now extending the six-month deferral of loans to businesses with up to $10 million in debt, including commercial landlords, on the condition tenants affected by the pandemic are not evicted for failing to pay rent.
However, others in the industry, including Brand Collective chief executive Martin Matthews, are calling for mandated rent-free periods or rent subsidies for business owners until the major disruption ends.
Brand Collective revealed it would temporarily stand down the majority of its workforce from next week as the business told its landlord it could no longer afford to pay rent.
"There is a high degree of uncertainty about our legal obligations during this period and we are hoping to work constructively with landlords to manage this – shopping centres can’t survive if retailers don’t survive," Mr Matthews said. "Clear government guidance on how landlords should approach rent holidays during this period is required."
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The kitchen and laundry appliances chain best known for its Appliances Online blimp that flies over Sydney also announced this weekend it would shutter a string of stores in an effort to adhere to occupational health and safety standards and assist in curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
Winning Group, the parent company of Appliances Online, will close 22 bricks-and-mortar facilities starting Monday but said it would continue its online operations and committed to retaining its staff with full salaries.
Chief executive John Winning said it was a "proactive" step to close the stores "in a commitment to the safety and health of our team and our customers".
These closures come as troubled department store Myer joined swathes of other Australian shopkeepers that have temporarily halted trading. The 120-year-old company said it would shut 60 stores from Sunday for at least a month.
While there had been speculation Myer might open "dark stores" – using store fronts to operate click and collect-like operations – for now, the retail giant is pushing customers to shop online.
Charlotte is a reporter for The Age.
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