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Recent events have the entire country on edge, and retail stores have to rethink their health and safety protocols to keep customers clean and happy. Several newfound challenges, like trying on clothes in a clean way, are facing retail establishments and affecting them in major ways. With sneeze guards, retail businesses can begin to operate again under lower amounts of stress.

5 Health and Safety Challenges Retail Stores Face

Sneeze guards are more commonplace than ever – they can even be found at your local fitness club – because they help make people feel comfortable and safe from contracting any illnesses during cold and flu season, or God forbid, another pandemic.

Retail stores face many challenges when trying to keep their store and customers clean. Sneeze guards are a great start to getting your store up to current cleanliness standards, but there are a few other things you have to worry about as well:

1. Store Capacity

First and foremost, retail stores must worry about the capacity of customers within the confines of the store. With cold and flu season constantly getting worse every year, it’s essential to top off your store capacity to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Forming a queue at the entrance of your store is an excellent way to keep customers orderly and move traffic along through the establishment. Utilize signage to indicate aisle flow and implore customers to maintain a safe social distance, especially when they are not feeling well. Keeping store capacity low leaves little chance for employees or customers to contract a cold or other illness within your establishment.

2. Fitting Rooms

For shoppers, fitting rooms are another significant safety concern. The enclosed spaces and shared clothing can seem daunting to customers concerned about their health during cold and flu season. Extra cleaning measures and a “clothing quarantine” can help keep customers feeling safe within your retail store.

Once clothing is returned from fitting rooms, utilize approved sanitizing methods, and keep the clothes off the floor for at least 72 hours. This little “time out” for the clothing gives germs and airborne illnesses a chance to die, leaving the clothes clean for a new person to try on.

In addition, don’t forget to take extra care when cleaning the dressing room area with approved sanitizers. Now, the next person won’t have to worry about what’s in the fitting rooms.

3. Item Cleanliness

One of the biggest concerns for customers returning to their regular shopping experience is how well the store items are sanitized. This can pose an incredibly tricky obstacle for clothing retailers since people are continually trying on clothes. There are a few ways stores can try to disinfect clothes that have been tried on or returned:

  • Store returned or worn items separately from the rest of the stock in a “quarantine” area, until they are approved to go back out on the floor.
  • Use high intensity steaming devices to disinfect worn clothing (this is not a proven method for disinfection, but an acceptable added protection measure).
  • Close the fitting rooms entirely and extend return policies so customers can bring the items home and return at a later time.

Encourage employees to wipe down the wares in your store at any chance they get. If you sell clothes, stay away from purchasing cotton or polyester fabrics for now. These breathable fabrics allow microbes and other harmful microorganisms to penetrate the fabric and linger for a long time. There’s no perfect solution to ensure the items in your store are sanitary. However, if your customers see employees being proactive, they’ll feel much more confident in your store’s safety.  

4. Queueing

Shoppers have probably already seen some kind of queueing solution in place at other types of locations, like grocery stores or gas stations. Many retail stores are implementing floor stickers and signage to encourage shoppers to social distance. Some signage dictates the direction to walk through aisles or where to stand while waiting to pay. Other signs indicate the start of the line around register areas.

Stores should ensure plenty of space for lines to form within the store. There should never be too much of a pile-up of people around the register with capacity under control. However, if that is ever the case, signage should help shoppers see where to stand safely before paying.

5. Payment Methods

Retail stores rely on one thing to keep their doors open: sales. Especially now, with so much economic uncertainty in America, small businesses require revenue. The national coin shortage and other economic issues have forced retailers to reconsider their accepted methods of payment.

Not only is paper money dirty and difficult to sanitize, but there’s also another looming issue: a coin shortage. With fewer coins in circulation, it’s challenging for stores to give out exact change. Many stores are suggesting that customers choose contactless payments like Apple Pay or cards with “tap-to-pay” capabilities to reduce the need for coins in transactions. Contactless payments are also ideal since they decrease contact levels between customers and employees.

If your store doesn’t already have sneeze guards in place at check out locations, consider installing them quickly. Many industries use sneeze guards for an added safety measure in high-contact areas. The clear, plexiglass barriers allow customers to communicate with employees during transactions while still feeling safe and comfortable with the added layer of protection in place. Sneeze guards help put customers at ease during their shopping experience.

Combatting Health and Safety Challenges in Retail Stores

As more states reopen, people are excited to get back to shopping. However, retail stores share some significant safety and health challenges that require swift solutions to keep shoppers safe.

Stores must limit capacities in accordance with local and state regulations. There should be stringent sanitization protocols put in place to clean high contact areas like registers, fitting rooms, clothing racks, and payment portals. Encourage social distancing while customers are perusing the shop or standing in line to pay. 

Some of the most crucial tools for retail stores combatting health and safety concerns during cold and flu seasons are sneeze guards. Implement custom-fabricated safety shields in fitting room areas or by registers and along check out lanes. When a customer enters your retail location and sees sneeze guards, they’ll immediately feel at ease. Adding protective measures like sneeze guards and hand sanitizing stations creates a more enjoyable shopping environment for concerned customers. Contact a manufacturer to find the right sneeze guard for your retail store, so your customers can get back to shopping safely.