SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – AUGUST 12, 2020
SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – AUGUST 12, 2020 What Safe Shopping Looks Like During the Pandemic (PT. 1) To limit the spread of Covid-19, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that individuals practice social distancing. When local conditions allow for retail stores to open, they confront a variety of guidelines that vary by state. For example North Carolina places specific limits on the number of customers allowed per square foot, while Oregon generally advises that the number of customers in the store should be limited so that customers can remain six feet apart. Whether or not customers are required by law to wear masks in stores depends on the state. How retailers implement these guidelines also varies among types of retailers and even within store categories. Grocery stores, for example, have adopted a wide variety of specific methods to ensure that customers remain apart. These variations are due to differences in the prevalence of the virus, diversity in local attitudes toward social distancing, and political forces. It is also difficult to formulate and implement guidelines that apply to all types of stores because of variations in store layout, customer flow, and the willingness of customers to comply with social-distancing advice. To make matters even more difficult, we still have a limited understanding of how Covid-19 is transmitted.Given this uncertainty as well as the challenges of finding a “one-size-fits-all” set of guidelines, here we describe three general principles to help retailers implement social distancing. These guidelines are based on the fundamentals of operations management, our own research on traffic flow within stores, and the best information available about the transmission of the disease. We also highlight how these principles impact the bottom line of retailers who are struggling to keep afloat while keeping their customers and employees safe. Principle 1: Less Density, Faster Flow All experts agree that to lower the risk of virus transmission, retailers must lower the density of people within the store. The easiest way to do that is to limit the number of customers in the store at any one time. The following equation, known as “Little’s Law,” highlights a tradeoff between density and sales and provides a powerful tool to understand the impact of social distancing on retail stores: Throughput through the store (in customers per hour) = Number of customers in the store ÷ Time spent in the store (in hours) One way to increase throughput (and sales) is to increase the number of people in the store. To maintain social distancing, however, this requires additional floor space. Therefore we see Harrods expanding to remote locations and restaurants seating customers in parking lots and on closed streets..
For space-constrained retailers, however, Little’s Law says that throughput will rise only if customers spend less time in the store. Therefore, these retailers should at this time focus on the efficiency of the shopping experience. While in more normal times retailers may have encouraged slower, browsing behavior, displays should now be designed to encourage faster customer decision-making. Retailers might consider changing the music played in the store, creating an atmosphere conducive to faster movement instead of relaxation and contemplation. Customers may also spend significant time waiting for help on the floor and waiting for check-out. Therefore, managers should be vigilant about carefully staffing the store to match customer demand: You want patrons to be shopping rather than waiting. Home Depot and Walmart have been particularly effective at this. Retailers should also ensure staff provide value-added services, such as lending expertise, so that customers can make better decisions more quickly. Make It A Champion Day!.
Brandon Hardison.
Champion Strategies .
For further Information contact.
brandonhardisoncpo5@gmail.com or 404-304-8285
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