Mirae Asset Sekuritas Indonesia economist Anthony Kevin found that customers did not immediately flock to shopping malls despite the reopening, adding that even those visiting malls still avoided durable goods stores.

“Alive but sort of dead. This is what we thought when visiting several malls in Jakarta and Bekasi [in West Java] as we found that people are still holding back from visiting malls,” he wrote in a research note dated June 19.

“In stark contrast to the minimum-to-no visits to durable goods, besides F&B [food and beverages] stores, people are still rushing to supermarkets to buy basic necessities, while staying vigilant about maintaining their health by purchasing vitamins at drug stores.”

The large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) implemented in several regions, such as virus epicenters and business centers Jakarta, Bandung in West Java and Surabaya in East Java, forced retailers, factories and offices to shut down to contain the coronavirus spread, severely limiting demand as people stayed at home.

Retail sales slumped by 7.5 percent year-on-year (yoy) in April, signaling weaker private consumption. Meanwhile, the trade, services and investment sector on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) has recorded a 21.87 percent fall so far this year as investors have dumped such stocks. The main gauge, the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), lost more than 22 percent of its value during the same period.

Mirae equity analyst Christine Natasya in a research note on June 3 expected the retail sector to recover gradually starting the second half of this year following the government’s decision to postpone the Idul Fitri collective holiday to December. The holiday postponement was taken to prevent people from going on mudik (the Idul Fitri exodus) in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

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