Are You Ready For a Return to Normal Shopping After Lockdown?

Posted On: June 23, 2020 By: jodee

The retail world has had to think on its feet as it navigates through the coronavirus pandemic. Those shops that were allowed to remain open had to instigate social distancing measures and find new ways to work. The stores that are due to reopen soon have also had to plan for how to do so in as safe a way as possible while the threat remains.

The retail world has had to think on its feet as it navigates through the coronavirus pandemic. Those shops that were allowed to remain open had to instigate social distancing measures and find new ways to work. The stores that are due to reopen soon have also had to plan for how to do so in as safe a way as possible while the threat remains. But what about when we get back to something more like normal shopping after lockdown?

 

Will you go back to the same layout and displays as before? Will you keep any of the safety measures in place for customers’ peace of mind? And what are you going to do to entice the returning shoppers to spend their money with you rather than your rivals? The Retail Factory has put together some ideas for ways to use this strange time as an opportunity to kickstart a new, bright future.

 

Stock Up on Retail Essentials

 

When you are in the full flow of regular business, it is tough to balance all the tasks you need to complete. So don’t wait until a return to normal shopping after lockdown to stock up on those retail essentials. Make sure you have everything you need now, and that will give you time to properly process all the items you need to keep you going. If you are going to launch into full on sales mode once shopping gets back to how it was before, you don’t want to be hindered by sweating on last minute orders for items that you could really stock up on while things are quiet.

 

Use this calm before the storm to put in orders for retail essentials like till roll, bags, security tags, ink rollers, labels and all the other items that you simply couldn’t afford to run out of. Having supplies stored up in advance of whenever the hordes are able to return means you can concentrate on running your shop rather than constantly having to check levels and put in orders amongst dealing with the rush.

 

Reassess Your Layout

 

When you are open seven days a week, you have very little time to tinker with the layout of your shop. This period of enforced closure has offered very few benefits, but one of them is that you can really look at how your customers make their way around your shopfloor. Are they any opportunities that you are missing? Could you do more to direct them towards your most popular products? Are you making the most of the space that you have?

 

Look at all of these aspects of the flow of your shop and see what improvements you can make. Doing this now allows you to hit the ground running when customers return to normal shopping after lockdown. 

 

Tweak Your Displays

 

When regular shopping returns there will be a host of shoppers whose loyalties are up for grabs. After a number of months away from what were previously their favourite shops, there is no guarantee that they will return to their own habits. This could mean that there are plenty of ‘floating voters’ available to be tempted to your premises.

 

To do this, you need to tweak your displays and make sure they are enticing, interesting and relevant to your business. Get these new displays in place and you will be best placed to snare as many shoppers for whom your shop is a good fit as possible.

 

Freshen up your mannequins to truly show off what you have to offer. Sort your slatwall so that it best displays the items you want to catch the eye of shoppers

 

Get Everything You Need For a Return to Normal Shopping After Lockdown

 

The Retail Factory has everything you need for a return to normal shopping after lockdown. Whether it is new mannequins, display cabinets, coat hangers or anything in between, we are your one stop shop for getting back up and running at full pelt.

 

We can provide bundle discounts on retail items, so make sure you browse the site to pick up everything you need in one go. We can also deliver everything to you, ready for you to revamp and refresh your shop.

 

We have many years of retail experience behind us and we dedicate an account manager to every customer, who can guide you through what you need to make a success of the new world in which we will soon find ourselves. We are the go-to place for display mannequins in the UK, for example, so we really do know what we are talking about when it comes to retail essentials.

 

Talk to us today on 0330 221 9841 if you have any questions about what we can do for you and your business.