First impressions have always been an essential step when it comes to getting people in your store’s front door. Now that more businesses are opening and people are feeling more safe to shop, first impressions mean just about everything. There are several areas in a store that your customers will be looking for when deciding if you’re a COVID-safe establishment or not. To meet the new store cleaning expectations, be certain you’re keeping your store safe for your customers and your employees, and make sure to prioritize these places where customers will notice the extra effort.
Store Cleaning: Door handles
Now, we know you can’t exactly see if a door handle is dirty or not – but customers sure can see if someone is cleaning them regularly. Not only is this a high-touch area you want to disinfect before your store opens, but you want to make sure your employees are continuing to clean the handles to the store, dressing room, and bathrooms often during the day.
Store Cleaning: Checkout counters
When people come up to checkout, they touch everything, as does the employee. It may be another area that customers can look at and not notice if it’s clean, but they will highly appreciate watching your employee wipe down the counter and credit card machine between each customer.
Store Cleaning: Merchandise shelves
When you’re creating your cleaning routine, don’t forget to add merchandising shelves to the list. This is an area that is often overlooked, but customers will definitely notice if you haven’t dusted in a while. Pro tip: don’t just dust and clean around the merchandise, make sure you’re removing everything and cleaning the entire shelf – customers will notice and appreciate the extra effort.
Store Cleaning: Windows and mirrors
Your store windows and mirrors will give everything away – handprints, smudges, dirt, and debris – as these things are always extremely noticeable. People love to window shop, which is why having your best merchandise in the window is a great way to get people into the store. But don’t stop there, make sure your windows are cleaned on a regular basis so people can clearly see into your store. Once they’re in the store, being able to try on the clothes and clearly see themselves is a vital part in the customers’ decision making process – make sure they look their very best.
Attracting customers is the first step, next is making sure they enjoy their experience in many different ways, one of which is feeling safe and clean. Keeping a clean store has always been necessary, but your customers are definitely paying more attention to it now. Keeping high-touch and highly visible areas clean will leave your customers feeling taken care of and confident in their shopping experience.
