Brian Tunks would usually spend September ordering stock and preparing staff for the busiest months of the year.
Instead, the owner of Bisonhome in Pialligo is delighted to once again be able to offer contactless delivery and collection services, a slight reprieve from weeks with nothing to offer.
"We weren't even able to send any orders out so we literally had zero revenue for the whole time," Mr Tunks said.
From midnight Friday ACT small retailers with less than 20 full time equivalent employees will be able to offer click and collect and contactless delivery.
There must be no more than two people at the store at a time.
Traders can also now enter their shopfront for maintenance or emergency reasons.
Mr Tunks welcomed the decision but is preparing for the weeks ahead to be far from business as usual.
"You've got to think outside the box again," he said.
"That's not a bad thing but it does limit what you can do."
Trade had been good for the first half of the year, Mr Tunks said, which he was grateful for.
"This is the essential time for any business. Where you make the revenue in retail particularly, is the last two to three months of the year," he said.
Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Graham Catt said after two weeks operators watch trade "absolutely disappear" retailers would welcome the new rules.
"It's been a difficult three weeks ... it's been across the board, we've had construction shut down, we've had all non-essential retail shut down and unable to fulfil internet orders," he said.
"The impact really has been huge and that flows on to jobs and flows on to the whole economy."
The rules brought in on August 12 were harsh for business, but Mr Catt said operators understood the need for the strict measures.
"We've seen what's played out in greater Sydney, so I think business on the whole was very understanding of the reason we needed to lockdown."
