Keeping customers comfortable in your store post-Covid-19
Whether your store has been open throughout the pandemic and you’re worried about decreased customer numbers or you’re looking at opening up for the first time again as lockdown restrictions ease, you shouldn’t be so quick to get back to “business as usual.”
The retail experience has changed to make sure that customers feel safe. Here are a few ways to make sure that you’re adapting as you need.
Be sure to space them out
Look at how many of the major retailers have been ensuring social distancing measures for customers and take the time to introduce some of them in your store as well. For instance, you can use floor markers to ensure that customers stay six feet apart at all times.
You can also limit the number of people allowed inside the store at any one time, having someone to maintain and look over the queue, admitting someone new when someone else exits the store.
Take the risk of contamination seriously
When your customers enter the store, you should make sure they can sanitise themselves and any baskets or trolleys they might come in with. A station where they can use hand sanitiser and cleaning wipes will help them feel a lot more secure about coming inside.
Protect your staff, as well. Consider investing in protective screens available from manufacturers like Safetell. Any staff that aren’t behind a screen, you should consider getting them a protective face-shield to make sure they’re safe from contamination, too. Your customers will be assured by the fact you’re taking all risks seriously and that you’re protecting employees, not just them.
Don’t let hygiene be a concern
Now, more than ever, your customers are going to be worried about what surfaces they might touch. Keeping your commercial property tidy is always important, of course, but now it carries a little extra weight as shows you’re managing the risk of contamination.
If you don’t have the manpower to clean more regularly yourself, consider outsourcing it to teams like SMC office cleaners. Regular cleans can make sure that the store looks as clean as possible, meaning that customers aren’t as likely to suspect that they could catch something just by being in the store.
Make the process much easier with tech
There are a lot of retail tech innovations that are becoming more widespread thanks to the outbreak and it might be worth looking closer at investing in them. Mobile self-checkouts can allow customers to check out their items using their own smartphone, for instance, never having to approach a physical checkout system, so they can be as hygienic as possible.
A virtual queuing system is being adopted by some, seeing customers wait in their cars with a ticket that allows them to enter at the right time rather than having to queue outside.
A lot of customers are rightfully concerned about how to shop in a world where Covid-19 is a real threat. Ensure that your store helps them feel as comfortable as possible to keep convincing them through your doors.