How to make your shop COVID secure

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world in ways few of us probably ever envisaged. Retailers and other businesses had to adapt very quickly to a rapidly changing situation. The food retail sector - which stayed open throughout - performed remarkably well, thanks to pre-prepared pandemic flu planning undertaken by the British Retail Consortium in which major supermarkets are involved.

With lockdown restrictions now being lifted, those in other business sectors, such as non-essential retail, need to prepare their businesses to ensure they comply with the government's guidance to allow them to safely reopen. According to research published in the journal Occupational Medicine, "a significant proportion of cases are related to occupational exposure" with the retail sector cited specifically. Thankfully, there is some great advice available to help protect staff, and plenty of business ideas to learn from those retailers who have stayed open throughout.

Comply with social distancing guidance

As the virus is transmitted by coughs and sneezes and contact with contaminated surfaces, most of the government's guidance on helping to control the spread is through social distancing and increased cleaning and hygiene.

In the UK we're currently adopting a 2m distance, which is further than in some other countries but still workable in most retail businesses.

There are quite a few different things you can do to aid social distancing within your business - some of them may require small changes to your store layout, staff training or business changes, such as specific shifts to reduce staff contact. Almost all of them benefit from improved in-store signage, which both keeps people safer and adds reassurance.

Minimise overcrowding

1. Reshuffle your layout: To ensure customers stay 2m apart you may need to reshuffle your store layout. Identify areas where staff or customers bottleneck and try to reduce overcrowding in these spots.

2. One in, one out: You may need to reduce the number of customers in your store at any one time. Pavement Signs provide a very visible way of letting customers know and are available with pre-printed posters to tell customers what to do.

3. One way systems: For narrow aisles, one popular technique has been the adoption of one way systems. These can ensure that customers don't need to pass each other and come within the recommended 2m distance. We have a range of floor vinyls and signs to help you add these.

Using signage at your entrance

Many businesses are using new signage at their entrance, both to let customers know that they've reopened and to remind them of social distancing measures and reassure them that businesses are taking extra precautions.

Pavement Signs have proven most popular outside stores, while roller banners have been a popular choice inside entrances.

Remind customers when in-store

Snap frames and showcard signs are very useful for reinforcing social distancing reminders, creating one way systems or controlling queues. All of these make the guidance much harder to miss. Social distancing floor vinyls and queue stickers have rapidly grown in popularity and provide a professional look, but basic Hazard Warning Floor Tape may be sufficient for some situations.

Creating a safer checkout experience

While it's possible to maintain a safe 2m distance at most points within a shopping trip, it becomes nigh on impossible when using the checkout. Unsurprisingly, it's this area that is most risky for your staff and where most retailers are focusing much of their attention. You should encourage staff to pack their own bags and try to maintain distance as much as you can. This might mean closing adjacent checkouts.

Promote contactless

While cash is already starting to die out in the retail sector, it's still worth encouraging customers to use contactless payments and to offer contactless refunds where possible.

This greatly reduces one-to-one contact between customers and staff, and avoids the need to handle potentially contaminated cash.

Improving hygiene in your shop

One of the key pieces of advice for becoming COVID-secure is to step up the usual level of cleaning, especially in busy areas. The government says you should regularly clean equipment, surfaces, trolleys, baskets, and other items that are touched.

The official advice is that you can "use your usual cleaning products", but note that not all of these actually kill the virus. If you're decontaminating an area known to have been used by an infected person there's some more specific advice on what you should do to ensure this is handled safely.

For more information on how we can help you with re-opening, call Daniel Evans on 0161 431 4400 or email [email protected].