Apple clears bills of partners for 2 months

Kolkata| Mumbai: Apple has paid its 500-odd exclusive stores in the country two months of rent and salaries for store staff apart from extending payment period to 60 days, even as consumer goods biggies like Hindustan UnileverNSE -0.97 % (HUL), ITC, Samsung, Marico and Godrej ConsumerNSE 0.84 % Products are extending payment period for trade partners and retailers to help them tide over business disruptions due to Covid-19.

The move comes when most retailers are grappling with low or intermittent sales in FMCG and no business at all in categories like mobile phones and consumer electronics, but are burdened with high overheads such as employee wages.