Melbourne retailers are ready to reopen their doors

Melbourne is emerging from its lockdown on the 28th of October, and retailers across the city couldn't be more ready to roll up their sleeves and reconnect with their customers again. We sat down with Retailworlds Melbourne Agency Manager Stacey Higgs to chat about what retailers can do to prepare for reopening safely and operating over the coming months:

Stores are going to operate differently from what we’re used to, and the experience customers have will also change. We’ve all done it hard over the last few months, and so being prepared for everything from team health and wellbeing to customer safety is crucial. 

My biggest tips for re-opening safely are:

• Have a COVID safe plan before re-opening. More information on this and what it should include can be found here.
• Ensure that your staff have undergone the free Infection Control Training.
• Get in contact with your team and ensure they are all in good health and able to work. Be sure to discuss the importance of health and safety in daily standups. 
• Provide your team with protective equipment such as gloves and masks to limit the chances of transmission.
• If possible install perspex glass at all POS stations to protect your staff and the customers while all sales are being processed.
• Have hand sanitiser and wipes stations available where possible. This gives customers the ability to clean their hands, baskets and shopping trolleys. If you don’t have access to these resources have an allocated staff member clean baskets, trolleys and frequently touched surfaces regularly.
• Be sure to regularly clean the high traffic areas such as shelves, change rooms, checkout counters etc.
• Keep the store from being overcrowded by limiting the number of people who can come in at any given time.
• Put up signage outside and inside your store reminding customers of social distancing. We suggest adding markers or stickers on the floor especially near the counter.
• If you sell clothing and accessories you may want to consider limiting access to your fitting rooms. I’d suggest having every second one open to encourage social distancing.
• Consider adjusting your store hours by shortening them slightly. This gives the team time to clean, refill stock and recharge.

Most importantly get the word out that you have reopened!  Communicate with your customers to drive awareness and traffic to your store. Send out emails, post on social media, even yell it from the rooftops if it will help. Just be sure to stick to the COVID safe plan and follow the above tips to ensure we stay open for good this time

If you want to chat about anything I’ve covered here or about how the Melbourne Retailworld team can help set your team up for reopening successful, flick me an email at staceyh@rwr.net.au or give me a call on + 61 3 9666 1503