Retailers expectations about the length of time for recovery following the coronavirus pandemic have lengthened, despite some easing of lockdown measures.

In the days following Boris Johnson’s address to the nation the weekend before last, and the prospect of some non-essential stores being able to reopen in June, Deloitte’s latest Retail Industry sentiment survey showed that almost all non-food retailers expected the period of material disruption of their businesses to last more than six months. That compared to 75% the previous week.

All food retailers expected disruption to last between six and 12 months, versus 38% a week earlier.

Of non-food retailers, 88% believed a return to business as normal would also take more than six months.

Half of food retailers, however, anticipated that normal conditions would resume in less than a month, but the same proportion thought it would take between six months and a year.

Workforce health and safety, optimisation of operations and cash flow were the three top priorities across retail.

Deloitte retail lead partner Ian Geddes said: “The announcement of a timetable for exiting lockdown including the reopening of non-essential stores will be welcomed by retailers.

“However, our data suggested that they remain focused on the challenges in the market and the complexity of the task to reopen stores and de-hibernate their business, and doing so in a way that ensures the safety of their consumers and staff.

“The other unknown is how willing consumers will be to return to shopping in-store? Our own research shows that only about a third of consumers would feel safe shopping in a store at the moment, suggesting that aside from the considerable logistical challenge of reopening networks of stores, there is also work to be done to reassure consumers.”