It’s been a challenging time for retailers, with the majority forced to either close or completely rethink their operation, however, there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Unless we see another spike in transmission (R) rates, from the 15th of June, the majority of non-essential retail has been given a green light to reopen their doors.
Keen to make up for lost revenue, retailers will be quickly looking to establish their new ‘business as usual’ routines, and in doing so, will want to bring their store teams back off furlough, fully briefed, and ready to go. With each team member having to adhere to the specific government-issued advice and guidelines, the behaviour and actions of these workers will be key to helping avoid another surge in Covid-19 cases, possibly leading to another lockdown.
With many store teams being equipped with PPE, as well as needing to control customer numbers in-store to maintain social distancing we are going to see an enormous amount of change on our high streets over these coming weeks. If people don’t feel comfortable stepping into customer-facing environments like a retail store, restaurant or hotel, then businesses will struggle to trade as government subsidies are transitioned away. So, what do these businesses need to quickly, safely and consistently open their doors to the public again?
For one, it will be critical to quickly bring teams up to speed with new legislation, policies and procedures, ranging from how to wear PPE, to how best serve customers. Team members will need to be briefed on all these changes before they work a shift and of course, Senior Management will want to know who has not read any mandatory updates or carried out tasks and activities designed to keep them and their customers safe. Daily checks will also need to be easily updatable to incorporate new procedures, so that consistency across stores and compliance can be monitored. Metro Unified Comms and Process lines enable retailers to re-engage, re-educate and re-open their stores safely from Day 1.
With government advice changing on a daily basis combined with the fluctuation in the availability of goods, the ability to quickly adapt signage is key to maintaining a calm and safe shopping environment, whilst also helping to educate, communicate and reassure shoppers. Critical to controlling the spread of Covid-19, retailers will undoubtedly play a key role in reminding customers to adhere to social distancing measures and explain how they will be served when it’s time to pay. Floor stickers, window posters, changes to store opening times, highlighting quantity restrictions and stock availability will all need to be communicated clearly and help reduce confusion and complaints. Of course, store teams need to be able to produce or replace this signage should it change or go missing and also know where it should be placed – this is where Metro Print Controller can help with in-store printing. Key messages, offers and deals can be printed on-demand and displayed within minutes.
Metro is RMS’ cross-functional digital workplace, designed to achieve perfect coordination, compliance and execution in multi-site environments such as Retail, Hospitality and Healthcare. Metro removes the need for dozens of expensive and difficult to maintain applications from different vendors to consolidate into one interconnected suite. To find out more please drop us a line on chat or contact us here.
Read the full Prime Ministers Press Release here
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