As consumers return to stores cleanliness is at the forefront of their minds, but for brands and retailers it is a challenge cleaning what is ‘unseen’. Shoppers will leave their mark wherever they go, and establishing where to focus cleaning resource for both consumer safety and reassurance is a significant task. Shoppers will be thinking ‘what have I touched, and who has touched this before me?’.
Many brands and retailers struggled to keep stores clean and tidy in normal circumstances, but coronavirus has significantly increased the challenge:
- Being able to clean efficiently includes reducing clutter and nonessential elements on the shop floor.
- Shoppers opening doors, using lifts, picking up product and using service and payment desks are just some of the actions in store that involve touching surfaces, and could be touched by hundreds of people every day.
- It is not practical to clean all surfaces every time they have been touched and many surfaces will be missed, but equally conscientious shoppers will make an effort to touch fewer surfaces, in the short term at least.
- Some sectors will face greater challenges than others; it is accepted in jewellery stores to have product in glass cabinets, whereas fashion retailers face far greater challenges where product is ‘tried on’ and difficult to clean.
- Some existing self-serve operations in store may also need to move to an assisted model within the short term queues for ‘basket only’ customers.
Despite the challenges faced by brands and retailers, shoppers will expect high standards of cleanliness in store, and won’t go back unless they are reassured that everything within reason is being done to keep stores clean and hygienic.