What I have seen over the past few weeks since the stay-at-home order has been lifted here has been a hodgepodge of notification. Some places have signs, some have taped off areas, some have pictures showing what needs to be done (social distancing, masks, disinfecting, etc.)
I think some type of notification will be needed moving forward – if only to make the customers feel better about coming to their businesses.

There are three issues that jump out for any kind of business or organization: Social distancing, masks (if a policy can be enforced) and sanitization. While a lot of the discussion about social distancing focus on capacity control, there should be an effort to reduce the numbers of fixtures on the selling floor just as restaurants in most regions are operating at less than full capacity.

I haven’t been in a Kohl’s store since they reopened here in Wisconsin, but apparently they have removed a lot of fixtures — a big change for Kohl’s. (What this means for “treasure hunt” retailers like TJX remains to be seen.) Stores forced to carry less merchandise and narrower assortments might just find that the customer likes it when she is ready to return.

With regards to “new tricks,” I’ve been talking about using “old tricks” to make the consumer shop easier. Bundle high-need items into a value bundles for consumers and make them very accessible. For example, my local grocery put together a summer garden vegetable bundle that sits in simple brown boxes right at the front entrance of the grocery store. This allows me to grab and go – helps limit my exposure to one portion of the store, makes for an easy experience and allows the grocery store to get one more person in/out faster.

Simplifying the shop is going to make the consumer feel more confident about coming back, and help with traffic in the store.

At a minimum, I believe there are three areas that must be addressed for a successful reopening: 1.) communication; 2.) safety; and 3.) space.

Communicate what is being done within the physical operation, on behalf of associates, across the supply chain and for the benefit of shoppers.

Emphasize safety from the parking lot to the checkout. Protect associates (make them part of the solution!), place sanitizer throughout the aisles, and post placards sharing the steps taken.

Rearrange space to allow easier passage (wider aisles, lower fixtures, one-way aisles if necessary, and eliminated congestion zones), place barriers where face-to-face communication occurs, and promote convenience across every category.

In the absence of a unified national protocol, there can only be a hodgepodge of rules and fingerpointing. To those saying no one will shop until there is a vaccine or every retailer will have all kinds of decals, temperature checks, signs, etc. – look at the states that have reopened. The vast majority who had limited exposure to the virus are not looking for those things and want to resume normal activity. Yes it is a balance, but when one store looks more like a trip to a doctor’s office and another doesn’t, which will the majority of customers prefer? That’s the million-dollar question.

Much has been published on this, including a great downloadable (free) extensive PDF from Kroger that I would highly recommend, so I won’t bore you by recounting it. My first tactic as a retailer would certainly be to check Kroger’s process out and implement training, but also to emulate Costco’s policy: No mask, no service. I guess many people don’t understand that masks are about protecting others and are a courtesy to others, NOT about protecting yourself. Maybe they do and don’t care but, once explained, if a customer doesn’t care about others, it’s bye bye for them in my book. I’m exhausted by this age of division and indifference to other humans, go somewhere else and get people sick. Signs would be included. 🙂

I think the CDC should create some kind of protocol and then have inspectors make sure those protocols are followed. Just like restaurants are inspected and graded. This is a public health problem. It should be treated as such.

This is my story and I’m sticking to it. Retailers are not epidemiologists, and district managers are not health inspectors.

Most retailers are using signage to communicate their policies to customers. This helps to provide reassurance and allows shoppers to make informed decisions about where and how they shop. Some retailers are going further and are giving out masks, hand wipes, and gloves. And some are being more restrictive by taking temperatures, mandating mask policies, or allowing appointment-only visits. Ultimately each retailer has to do what they feel is best and each customer needs to make the same determination when shopping. What’s certain is that while it is very unwelcome, the increased friction is necessary during this time to protect shoppers and staff. Most people know and accept that. However, longer-term I think retailers will ditch anything that increases friction as soon as it is safe to do so.

Retail must take an aggressive, multifaceted approach to health and safety. Customer experience and employee satisfaction are much more dependent on enhanced protection protocols than ever before. New C-level leadership, a Chief Health Officer (CHO), is needed to establish a vision for chain-wide public health and ensuring store level initiatives are executed fully and effectively.

I believe a new CHO position focused on customer and employee health needs to be adopted to develop, implement and monitor:

• Social distancing policies and execution;
• Store capacity management process, infrastructure and technology;
• Health and safety responsibilities for store and district-level store operations personnel;
• Safety stations (facemasks, gloves, hand wipes, temperature checks and basket/cart cleaning), etc.;
• Disaster recovery updated to include pandemic preparedness.

We need to be prepared for whatever comes next and a CHO is a wise investment given what we have seen and what we will see over the coming months.

There is a lot of confusion out there as state and even community guidelines vary. In most cases, retailers must do their own research to find what is required, and finding the most recent mandates isn’t always easy. The line between perception and science is blurred.

In every store I have visited the signs are up, social distancing guidelines are in place, frequent sanitation is happening, and mask rules are clearly defined but it’s still up to shoppers to follow them.

It’s tough to be a retailer right now. And it’s stressful. In addition to worrying about reopening the store they have also become responsible for keeping store associates and customers safe. As gatekeepers they need to ensure everyone follows the rules. It’s exhausting to think about. Right now the trick is staying sane while wearing 1,000 hats.