Introduction
Picture this: you're strolling through a bustling mall, searching for that perfect shopping experience. As you enter, the first thing that catches your eye is the spotless entrance, inviting you with its pristine aura. You make your way to the washrooms, and to your delight, they're impeccably clean and fresh-smelling. Hungry after all that shopping, you head to the food court, where you're greeted by gleaming countertops and a hygienic environment. And as a parent, you're relieved to find a well-maintained family room and play area for your little ones to enjoy.
Now, let's flip the scenario. Imagine stepping into a mall where cleanliness is an afterthought. Sticky floors, overflowing trash cans, and unkempt washrooms greet you at every turn. Would you want to return to such a place? Probably not!
Maintaining high levels of cleanliness and hygiene are the ways in which large format retail chains can keep attracting more and more footfall. There are a lot of areas to focus on, a long list of spaces to keep clean, and methods that can be used. Let’s look at them in a little more detail.
Areas That Retail Stores Must Focus on
Retail stores have dedicated spaces designated for various purposes and activities. The cleaning requirements for each of these spaces are different, and each one needs a different focus.
- Entrances. Entrances to retail spaces should be equipped with air curtains to prevent the entry of contaminants, dust, particulate matter, etc., that could potentially settle down on interior surfaces and promote microbial breeding.
- Washrooms. Washrooms are fertile places for microbial activity – if left uncleaned and dirty, they could potentially create a biohazard zone that acts as a super-spreader of diseases.
- Food Courts. These spaces are another hotspot for microbial activity owing to the presence of organics that, if left uncleaned, have the potential to rot and create unhygienic conditions for the visitors.
- Family Rooms. Family rooms that involve spaces for changing diapers need to be included in sanitation and disinfection schedules. The sanitary waste (in this case, dirty diapers) needs to be disposed of at least twice daily.
- Play Areas. Retail chains with play areas need to exercise particular caution. Play areas are crucial for parents to bond with children and need to be cleaned and disinfected frequently. In addition, children have comparatively weaker bodies and are prone to infections.
Let's now look at some tips to help maintain hygiene in retail chains.
Tips to Maintain Hygiene in Retail Chains
The following tips cover the top cleanliness and hygiene requirements of retail chains.
- Cleaning during business hours helps to maintain a clean facility round the clock. It makes sense because retail facilities are the most in use during these hours and are most likely to accumulate contamination.
- Changing the working patterns of the establishment staff and store owners helps reduce congestion in closed spaces, bringing down the risk of infection while maintaining social distancing mandates.
- Put up signs and banners everywhere to encourage visitors to practice social distancing. Train the staff to remind people of this mandate, helping stop the spread if an infected person walks in.
- Many countries have implemented the concept of self-checkout that involves express counters equipped with devices that auto-scan the items in the cart and enable digital payments. This ensures touch-free shopping.
- Communication and guidance are crucial to educating visitors on infection safety protocol. Delegate volunteers to communicate with visitors who breach safety protocol.
- Sanitation facilities should be paid extra attention because this area is likely to be the dirtiest. An exclusive contract should be in place with sanitation agencies that are responsible for professional cleaning. According to a survey by Initial, 20% of the customers would leave a retail facility earlier if the washrooms were not clean.
- Simply installing barrier mattings across all indoor-outdoor connections works like a charm to prevent the entry of dirt and contaminants inside.
- Understandably, the rainy season can be tough. However, be flexible during those days because visitors will drag in mud and water with them. So, instead, rev up the cleaning staff during such instances.
Cleaning Retail Spaces for Maximum Hygiene and Cleanliness
- It is imperative to hire professional cleaning services for cleaning textile-based implements in retail spaces – carpets, rugs, curtains, cushions in the seating area, upholstery, table linen, etc. Fabrics are ideal breeding grounds for pathogens and affect cleanliness and hygiene.
- Retail facilities should also focus on cleaning all the glass surfaces employed inside and out – whether windows, storefronts, tables or furniture, elevator cubicles, etc. Clean glasses around the facility invoke positivity among visitors.
- Tidiness is another crucial factor that retail chains must stringently impose on all the businesses using the space. Storage clutter and disorganization have the potential to collect dust and contaminants and could also lead to the breeding of roaches and rodents.
- Disinfection of high-touch surfaces like handles, railings, digital payment machines, POS, furniture, etc., needs to be strictly followed. Especially after the pandemic, it has become essential to stick warning flyers around high-touch surfaces and install sanitizer dispensers there.
- Hiring a professional disinfection and sanitization service is imperative. Make a schedule for periodic disinfection and religiously stick to it to ensure the facility remains as germ-free as possible.
Wrapping Up
In the end, it is the responsibility of the establishment manager to ensure that disinfection, hygiene, and cleanliness protocol and policies are in place and are being enforced in his retail chains.
These tips help to get an idea of the extent and scope of work involved in maintaining a clean retail chain that is safe for staff and visitors both.
