How to adjust to reopening your store post lockdown

Retailers across Australia and New Zealand are reopening this week as COVID-19 restrictions being to relax. We’re sure keeping your staff and customers safe and compiling with new regulations will be your main priority, so we put together some guidelines to help you with getting back to business as easily and safely as possible.

Clean your stores - After stores have been closed for weeks it’s recommended that they are properly cleaned and sanitized before reopening. Be sure to disinfect high touch surfaces such as countertops, checkout’s, change rooms etc. These will also need to be cleaned regularly throughout the day so ensure that cleaning products are close by for your team members to use once a customer has come into contact with any surface.

Staff members - Rosters should be done by now and all staff will have been contacted with their new hours and the other team members they are on with.  Ensure they are all in good health and comfortable to return work, and if they don’t feel well in the slightest it’s best they stay home. Be sure to include health and safety talking points in your daily meetings/huddles and continuously reiterate the new procedures. Keep health and safety top of mind by constantly reminding your team on the importance of proper hygiene and social distancing. Provide all staff members with personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks to limit their chances of catching the illness.

Limit customer capacity - Keep your store from being too crowded at any one time. Display signage outside and inside your store. Set up signs at the entrance reminding customers that social distancing laws are in place and they may need to wait to enter if you are at max capacity in store. Have signs in store to remind customers to keep their distance. Consider adding markers or decals on your floor, in particular near the counter, so people know where to stand in line. You may need to close some of your fitting rooms to comply with regulations.

Be sure to provide hand sanitizer upon entry of the store and also at the counter for extra measure if you prefer. It’s recommended that the staff regularly wipe down the counter/checkout area with antibacterial spray or wipes. You may also want to consider contactless checkout where possible and accept cards only not cash.

In Australia before setting a plan in place, we recommend that you check in with your local state health authorities for location-specific guidelines. For New Zealand check out these guidelines from WorkSafe NZ.

Good luck! It’s been a long wait and these precautions are in place to help us get back to “normality” as safely as possible.