A recent poll confirms that West Australians want fewer shopping restrictions – with six out of ten residents supporting extended shopping hours.The Committee for Perth survey of 600 residents found 60 per cent supported extending Sunday retail trading hours and 55 per cent supported extended Saturday hours.

CCIWA’s retail trade report, released in February, showed that 69 per cent of WA households and 72 per cent of businesses believe all WA businesses should have the freedom to open their doors when they want.

It found that three out of five (62 per cent) WA small businesses in local shopping precincts would benefit from increased foot traffic if supermarkets were allowed to open earlier on Sunday mornings.

CCIWA Chief Economist Aaron Morey said the recent survey confirmed the majority of West Australians supported reform of retail trading hours.

“The message is clear: hard-working families want the flexibility to shop when it suits their busy schedules. For many families, weekends can be dominated by activities like kids’ sport, and more flexibility can help them to get the shopping done at a time that suits them,” he said.

“Importantly, there is majority support for reform from WA’s small businesses. With the rise of online shopping, these businesses know the importance of driving foot traffic into local shopping precincts. Amazon doesn’t wait until 11am on a Sunday to open. Online shopping is starving our local shopping precincts of customers.”

Read CCIWA’s retail trade report here.