How to Increase Footfall in Retail and Boost Sales After the Coronavirus Lockdown

There is little doubt that the Coronavirus pandemic has played havoc with much of the retail industry. Unless you are in essential items like food or cleaning products, and have been allowed to stay open, it will have been a struggle. But, one day, it will end, or at least undergo a sufficient control to allow us to return to some normality, and when that happens, how can you entice shoppers back in? 

One this is very likely; we are probably going to see more medical emergencies of this nature in the future, and the lessons that we have learnt now will serve us well if something nasty occurs. We have had to get used to social distancing, and less people in our stores, and that generally equates to lower revenues, but we are in business to make money, and unless we increase profit margin, we need to increase footfall. 

Getting more people into a Retail Store Compliance Audits safely can represent a significant problem, but planning your store appropriately can go a long way to easing the issue. You will need to consider how your customers will transition around your store, maximise space, and avoid areas where customers might be herded into and feel constricted. You could start off by analysing your usual customer flow and identifying any areas where you can alter the storage solutions or consider new routes and thoroughfares to make it safer for them and still profitable for you. 

Of course, there is much that you can do with different layouts to help with getting customers in and around your store but in a safe way. Much of what you can do with layouts is dependent upon factors such as the actual size of your establishment your floor space against wall area, and ingress and exit points. 

If you have a lot of clear floor area, you may want to choose the grid layout beloved of superstores and other food purveyors. With this type of scheme, you can eliminate narrow aisles and ensure that your customers have sufficient space to both move around and avoid each other. You might struggle to get them to observe a full 2 meters distance, but at least they will not be on top of each other while they shop. 

If you don’t have a huge amount of floor space, or have an oddly-shaped layout, you could further help them feel comfortable by adopting a forced-path layout, that makes your customers follow a prescribed route, and does not allow for backtracking and customers going against the flow. It also allows you to display the maximum amount of stock as customers have to pass every bit on their way round. This can maximise impulse buying too. 

On top of those structural changes, you can offer good levels of sanitation and make deep cleaning a part of your regime, and let your customers see that you are doing it. You can also make great use of signage to help people understand not only what they need to be doing, but what you are doing to help them keep safe. 

Post COVID, retail will change, and you will need to change with it if you not only want to maintain your business but grow it too.

Need more information contact Inside Tracks.