Finland's anticipated so-called Covid pass will help to bolster the retail sector, once it is rolled out, according to the Finnish Commerce Federation's managing director Mari Kiviniemi.
If adopted, the Covid pass would function as official proof of administered vaccines, a recent negative coronavirus test result or recent recovery from the virus. Some countries have already started using similar certificates as a means of ensuring safety in crowded spaces like bars and restaurants, or for use on public transport.
At a federation press conference held online on Monday, Kiviniemi said that Covid certificates would have an indirect impact on retail commerce.
"As such, it would be good if the Covid pass could be implemented as soon as possible in order to open up society more and move more quickly towards normalcy," she said.
Kiviniemi — a former Centre Party politician who also served as Finland's second female prime minister — said she was concerned about the financial burden that retailers carry, particularly in terms of taxation.
She said the country's wage costs and taxes were forcing retailers to raise prices resulting in the dwindling purchasing power of consumers.
"Our message to political decision-makers is that labour taxation must be reduced in the long term, because that would tax wedges and costs, but also improve purchasing power," she said.
In simple terms, tax wedges refer to the difference between the salary paid by an employer and a worker's net pay, including government welfare benefits.
3.5 percent growth in retail sales this year
Unless significant coronavirus-related restrictions are imposed again in Finland, the country's retail sales will grow by 3.5 percent this year, according to the Finnish Commerce Federation.
The commerce sector lobby group also forecasts that growth of retails sales will comparatively slow down next year to previous levels of around 1.5 percent.
Although overall household consumption contracted during the coronavirus crisis, retail sales increased as business declined within several sectors, including transportation, leisure as well as the restaurant industry.
Going forward, the group said that it did not anticipate that employment levels within the retail sector would return to the pre-crisis levels of 2019, however.
Additionally, the federation said it doesn't expect retail jobs to grow over the next couple of years due to international and domestic competition forcing retailers to streamline operations through automation and digitalisation.
Covid changed grocery sector
The federation's chief economist, Jaana Kurjenoja, said that the coronavirus crisis has already prompted permanent changes to the grocery industry.
She said the sector will continue to compete more actively with, for example, the restaurant industry as well as lunch canteens.
"If we compare the selection available in grocery stores now to before the crisis, we can see big differences," noting a marked increase in the availability of ready-to-eat meals as well as imported food items.
Meanwhile, the work- and study-from-home situation facing many households during the epidemic led to people increasingly shopping for groceries online.
At the end of last year both of Finland's biggest grocery store chains, S-Group and Kesko, reported a sharp rise in online sales. The number of online grocery shopping options grew at an unexpected pace during the pandemic as well.
Kesko reported record-high sales in April.