Do retailers need to go beyond ‘reopening playbooks’?
Photo: Kroger

Many retailers emerging from the COVID-19 quarantine have created business reopening playbooks. These include wide-ranging strategies founded upon social distancing, limited occupancy and extensive sanitizing procedures. The objective is to convey trust and credibility that their business is a safe environment for shoppers and store employees. We’ve already seen numerous commercials showing masked employees wiping grocery conveyor belts, etc.

Technology providers are presenting a myriad of coronavirus-inspired offerings to facilitate reopening, including hand sanitizer dispensers, thermal imaging and computer vision cameras for taking customers’ temperature (and their photo), footfall traffic sensors for occupancy measurement and analytics data, floor decals and signage for communicating social distancing and directional traffic patterns, along with numerous mandatory hygiene, cleaning and sanitizing procedures and cycles.

McDonald’s is requiring that bathrooms, the front service counters and all “high-touch” hard surfaces be sanitized every 30-minutes and self-order kiosks and dine-in tables “after every use.” Employees are expected to wash their hands every 30-minutes.

Reopening playbooks and opportunistic devices make many promises but beg the question, “So what?” What do you do when your device alerts you that a shopper has a temperature of 101°F? I can only imagine the legal ramifications (HIPAA) of emailing a person’s identity and their temperature through unsecured systems. How do you, or your shoppers, know that sanitizing is being done?

Many of these efforts make for good optics but lack substance. This was substantiated during a recent conversation with a retail manager in which she commented on all the visual references to cleaning and sanitizing in her company’s advertising, but said “all I see in the store is a person without a mask mopping the floor.”

One element missing is accountability, which is critical to building trust and credibility with shoppers and employees. The ability to certify, audit and trace incidents and prove that mandatory procedures were followed will help expedite the return to a new normal. A quote in McDonald’s playbook — “We only get one chance to do this the right way” — amplifies the importance of these requirements for the brand.

The benefits of a task and training datalogging, reporting, dispatching and responding application include:

  1. Accountability for brand/corporate requirements for COVID-19 response and beyond;
  2. Visibility and reporting across all tiers and disciplines of corporate management;
  3. Compliance and traceability of required workflows and processes;
  4. Audits and affidavits for legal protection;
  5. Certification and affirmation for customers and employees.

BrainTrust

“Keep it simple – do at least what corporate says to do. If someone asks what that is, have a handout showing what that is. And then focus on business.”

Dr. Stephen Needel

Managing Partner, Advanced Simulations


“Playbooks are helpful, but no match for human irrationality.”

Ryan Mathews

Founder, CEO, Black Monk Consulting


“There has always been a gap between corporate strategy and field execution, and local leadership and training makes the difference.”

Patricia Vekich Waldron

Contributing Editor, RetailWire; Founder and CEO, Vision First

Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do you think documented accountability matters more now as stores reopen, or will customers trust the optics, quickly forget the threats and return to shopping as usual? In what ways can retailers best assure compliance of COVID-19 procedures at store level?

Poll

Do you think store-level compliance with corporate directives will improve, remain the same or deteriorate within two months of stores reopening?

View Results

Loading ... Loading …

Leave a Reply

31 responses to “Do retailers need to go beyond ‘reopening playbooks’?”

  1. Dave Bruno Avatar
    Dave Bruno

    I could not agree more, Adrian. Governance and compliance are hugely important issues just lurking around the next corner, and I have not yet seen evidence that many retailers have plans in place to ensure safety protocols are consistently enforced. Operations management needs to assign responsibility and accountability to senior store staff, they need to implement consistent communication programs, regular audits and rigorous reporting processes -and they need to do so quickly. Cleaning logs hanging on the back of bathroom doors are no longer even close to good enough.

  2. Brian Cluster Avatar
    Brian Cluster

    The playbooks are likely very complete in terms of cleaning various areas of the store, handling of food, managing customers that are not following the rules, and establishing a protocol for employees and their behavior and processes. But I believe that in these trying times, there has to be a balance between the stick and the carrot.

    The retailers are asking the right questions and planning to make the store environment as safe as possible. But how might they make it more enjoyable for their employees which will reflect positively on the customer interactions? With all of this reporting and auditing, is there an opportunity for individual stores to have a reward at the end of the month, a “socially distancing employee party” or some other fun perk that recognizes their hard work and adherence to the new policies?

  3. Suresh Chaganti Avatar
    Suresh Chaganti

    The challenge for retailers is that most of the protocols are recommended and not legally mandated. That means optics become very important. Conscientious retailers can be expected to make good faith efforts, but these protocols become expensive to maintain. Like everything else, probably there will be good/better/best variants to start with and retailers will eventually return to an average level based on what everyone else is doing.

  4. Georganne Bender Avatar
    Georganne Bender

    My personal observation is that most shoppers are more interested in being back in stores than they are in all the safety measures. In Illinois masks are required, and although things about shopping right now are different, customers seem to have adapted to the changes and have moved on.

    I visited a Von Maur department store in Wisconsin where masks are recommended; I saw few shoppers wearing them and social distancing for the most part was not being practiced. Store associates were all masked, and safety protocols were in place, but customers seemed oblivious to everything but shopping.

    And maybe that’s the thing: We have read so much about what retailers are doing to keep us safe that we just assume we will be fine on the sales floor. For all of the pontificating about how retail will be impacted forever you would think it’s a whole new world on the sales floor. It’s not. Obviously, someone forgot to tell the customer.

    1. Brandon Rael Avatar
      Brandon Rael

      Spot on as always Georganne!

      1. Georganne Bender Avatar
        Georganne Bender

        Thanks, Brandon! Shoppers are resilient.

      2. Brandon Rael Avatar
        Brandon Rael

        Yes! Especially when retailers, economists, consultants, and other experts underestimate their resiliency and ability to adapt.

  5. Richard Hernandez Avatar
    Richard Hernandez

    Customers are more savvy than they are given credit for. It is great to have procedures documented, but it’s the execution that will make or break customer trust in the retailer. Additionally, employees have to believe in what is being asked of them as well. If you don’t have both, it can spell a bad time for a comeback to normal by that retailer.

  6. Bob Phibbs Avatar
    Bob Phibbs

    I agree on this. Whether you like it or not America is ready to move on to the next crisis – cities burning. I’ve seen playbooks of up to 78 pages for a retailer – really? Who thinks that will happen in the field? Not me. And all of these additional ideas have a cost and a result. Simplicity will be the best tactic going forward that can be repeated for months. I don’t think America is ready to do appointment-only/scanning every forehead/etc. and have the joy of shopping feel like a trip to a sick ward.

  7. Ken Morris Avatar
    Ken Morris

    I believe documented accountability is a requirement as we reopen. We need to maintain the trust factor with the customer base. Operating and shopping as usual is not the playbook going forward. We have been changed forever, like it or not, and we need to change the game. The compliance workflow idea resonates with me as one of the go forward keys to long term success. Tools like Reflexis, Opterus, ThinkTime and Workjam can be leveraged to enforce accountability with their closed loop notification and escalation capabilities.

  8. Jeff Weidauer Avatar
    Jeff Weidauer

    The focus so far has been on optics: hand sanitizer, floor decals, a clerk wiping down carts. The measures have no teeth, and stores are forced to decide what to enforce and how to enforce it. Customers are ready to get back to normal and will quickly forget the hardships, but the risk remains and retailers will be held accountable over the long term.

    1. Laura Davis-Taylor Avatar
      Laura Davis-Taylor

      I agree, and the jury is still out. One thing I believe strongly is that the concern is not if the store is safe … it’s if the store is taking measures to protect them from the other shoppers that don’t care about the health and wellness of others, thereby bringing safety concerns with them as they leave their mark on the store environment. And let’s be real, that was a thing before COVID–it’s just that now it has more dire consequences.

      Like everything else in relation to retail stores, the CX designed around this is key. Part of that is ensuring that shoppers know that a safety protocol is a secured safety measure, not just an operational process box check. Optics go both ways.

  9. Bob Amster Avatar
    Bob Amster

    This is a function of company culture and, within that culture, how and how often must corporate leadership drive the message down to the lowest level of the field organization. Retail has the (technical) tools. Retailers can produce videos for stores’ hourly and managerial personnel to view. They can deliver audio messages to all store personnel (I am working with a product company that does exactly that, and very effectively). They can drive appropriate and catchy signage (whether hard copy or digital) that drives home the concepts and the protocols for re-opening safely, and they should create a help desk group within the operations department that will answer questions and take on suggestions from the field. It’s all question of how important top management perceives these actions to be.

  10. Cathy Hotka Avatar
    Cathy Hotka

    The Store Operations Council is prepping a follow-on document to Reopening Retail Safely; our main finding is that leadership is the most important factor in a successful reopen, not cleaning tactics. Think big, retailers!

  11. Dr. Stephen Needel Avatar
    Dr. Stephen Needel

    It’s all about the optics and very few will really care what you, the retailer, are doing. Those who care deeply are also likely to be those who are going to be skeptical of whatever you tell them or show them. Keep it simple – do at least what corporate says to do. If someone asks what that is, have a handout showing what that is. And then focus on business.

  12. Ben Ball Avatar
    Ben Ball

    Would you still be taking your shoes off to go through airport security if the TSA didn’t police it? Of course shoppers will consider most of this optics — particularly actions they are required to take — and will abandon them quickly as the virus fades. After all, how deadly was shopping without a mask pre-COVID-19? As for retailer actions, those that are static will remain. Plexiglass screens at checkouts. Touchless payment and delivery where possible. Those that require documented accountability such as more frequent cleaning will depend on the retailer. But retailers should remember that clean bathrooms always increase customer retention and loyalty. Improved practices that are visible to shoppers will do the same, COVID-19 or not.

  13. Zach Zalowitz Avatar
    Zach Zalowitz

    These measures are only good to the extent that people are notified of them and see and perceive them as being done. As an example, for a grocery store that has been open all along, it’s critical someone near the grocery carts is seen at all times, reassuring that the carts are indeed clean and ready to use. Similarly, I think people are going to look to the traditional retailer to tell them what measures they’re taking and, importantly, to see those measures being reinforced verbally and optically to give reassurances that they’re in a safe and “clean” environment. One thing for sure, nothing is going to be normal for a long time, and I imagine these playbooks become game plans for what the new normal becomes.

  14. Ryan Grogman Avatar
    Ryan Grogman

    They were and are a great first step, but retailers across all segments absolutely have to move beyond the playbooks and customer-facing signs. Shoppers ultimately spend their money with brands they trust, and that trust is now extending beyond traditional product quality and value into their own health concerns. As stories continue to emerge about how retailers are handling non-compliant employees or patrons, customers will have to decide if the right accountability measures are in place for them to maintain their trust in that brand.

  15. Ryan Mathews Avatar
    Ryan Mathews

    Playbooks are helpful, but no match for human irrationality. Even though we are still locked down in Michigan people are walking around unmasked en masse, garage sales are starting to open up, and I see more people walking into stores without masks, without observing social distancing rules, etc. Thirty minutes is a lot of time for contagion to spread, so how comfortable are customers concerned about COVID-19 ever going to be in those McDonald’s restaurants or knowing it’s been a half an hour since the person touching their food washed their hands? Bottom line: it all depends on what happens. If people start dying again we have one scenario. If they don’t, we’ll see.

  16. Gene Detroyer Avatar
    Gene Detroyer

    From what I have seen so far, the people who work in the stores are the most careful. I have seen similar personal safety precautions from workers no matter if the store is highly compliant or not.

    What worries me is the customers. As time has gone on, they seem to be more and more relaxed about safety.

    Certainly all retailers should give consistent guidance to appropriate protocols. But let’s think a minute. Who is at the biggest risk? Those who work in the stores and see a multitude of people coming into their store in an hour, a day or a week or the the shopper who comes in contact with a very few store personnel for a limited time?

  17. Ralph Jacobson Avatar
    Ralph Jacobson

    This is all about the perennial challenge of retail execution. Forever, stores have been challenged to reflect corporate leadership’s directives, whether it be merchandising, promo displays, or in this case safety and sanitation guidelines. True leadership with prevail at those retail companies that take this seriously.

  18. Brandon Rael Avatar
    Brandon Rael

    Our new normal is changing by the day, so any documented reopening playbook will have to be a living breathing, organic, and evolving document. The playbook will represent the foundation retailers and consumer-facing organizations could start with, however it will all come down to execution on the sales floor, and part of the new culture companies will need to provide a safe and sanitary place to shop.

    There also has to be a close alignment with the local governments to ensure that the stores and restaurants are compliant with the changing rules and regulations. Retailers will have to ensure that their store associates are well-trained, empowered and have a full understanding of what it takes to run a safe retail operation in our post-COVID-19 world.

    1. Dave Nixon Avatar
      Dave Nixon

      Brandon — 100% agree! I suggest more of a framework approach than a documented policy standard, and it needs to be dynamically refreshed as times and needs change.

  19. Mark Price Avatar
    Mark Price

    Consumers will not forget the impact of the pandemic at any time real soon. It is critical for retailers to make sure that they are addressing consumer safety issues in a consistent, verifiable and transparent manner. In order for the stores to assure compliance of procedures, both systems and values must be addressed. The real reason for all these procedures is to keep your customers safe from harm. The only way to ensure adherence to the procedures is to instill that value clearly in the store associate level; otherwise, the associates will find ways to short change the procedures over time.

  20. Harley Feldman Avatar
    Harley Feldman

    Documented accountability of the processes retailers are using to re-open their stores is an important tool to ensure that the stores are safe places for their employees and customers. The data is more important to the store as the customers will assume the retailer is doing everything to make their stores safe. As customers have good experiences in stores and feel comfortable shopping, it will not take long for things to get back to shopping as usual.

    Retailers can best assure compliance by establishing CDC standards of social distancing, cleaning, facemasks, etc., then tracking how the standards are measured and followed.

  21. Patricia Vekich Waldron Avatar
    Patricia Vekich Waldron

    There has always been a gap between corporate strategy and field execution, and local leadership and training makes the difference. What I’ve observed here in SoCal is that store employees are far more diligent than customers in maintaining social distance, following one-way aisle directions, etc.

  22. Dave Nixon Avatar
    Dave Nixon

    Consider a playbook more like a framework. Each retailer needs to have a set of guidelines and standards defined in a playbook that serves to protect shoppers and associates and measure compliance, but individual stores need the ability to adapt policies or procedures that are relevant to their particular store. One playbook across the landscape of a retail brand is not a realistic approach for all stores and ignores some of the specific store needs.

  23. Oliver Guy Avatar
    Oliver Guy

    There has been some amazing adaptability and rapid transformation in light of covid these past months. It could well be a long time before shopping returns to normal — indeed if it ever does. Retailers need to invest in their omni-channel offer because during this pandemic new customers have bought online will not want to go back to a store.

    Stores will ask customers to exhibit “common sense” but there are things that the retailer can do. For example Aldi in Europe have installed automated doors that let a maximum number of people in the store to enable social distancing. While this kind of approach has an impact in terms of doing the “right thing” by the customer it also limits the retailer’s capacity to sell — hence driving the need to invest in their omnichannel capability with delivery, curb-side pick up and new innovative approaches.

  24. Ricardo Belmar Avatar
    Ricardo Belmar

    It’s one thing to be very detailed and transparent about what your plan is to ensure people feel safe in your stores, but it’s another to prove that you are following those procedures and ensure compliance at all levels. Yes, many retailers have done a great job telling customers what they will be doing, but now is the time, as stores are reopening, to be equally transparent about compliance with those guidelines in a visible way. Store ops need to place proper tracking mechanisms in place for stores to document all of the procedures are being followed as planned. This is both for the benefit of employees as much as customers.

  25. Scott Norris Avatar
    Scott Norris

    Very interested to see what kind of incentives and penalties McDonald’s puts into its franchise agreements around safety. They’ve been bold at subsidizing US locations to remodel from the foundation up, and I can imagine their future marketing being equally bold: “Clean ingredients. Clean stores. Safety and fairness for our people. Value you can trust.” (I don’t care if it’s McDonald’s, but I want *some* QSR to run with this!)

  26. @therealspencer Avatar
    @therealspencer

    Nice article here, Adrian.

    There will be a day (soon) when a savvy trade group and/or supplier will lead industries into a universal rating and certification for compliance and governance over these issues. Maybe coming from a surprising source. Remember that it was Michelin (a tire company) that first gave Europeans a restaurant quality rating that is now the most trusted and most sought after acknowledgement in that industry.

    Will there be a Michelin, ISO-9001 or DTS Surround Sound equivalent that provides the standardization, quality assurance and security shoppers will rely on?

    My experience says, “yes.”

31 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Dave Bruno
Dave Bruno
Member
3 years ago

I could not agree more, Adrian. Governance and compliance are hugely important issues just lurking around the next corner, and I have not yet seen evidence that many retailers have plans in place to ensure safety protocols are consistently enforced. Operations management needs to assign responsibility and accountability to senior store staff, they need to implement consistent communication programs, regular audits and rigorous reporting processes -and they need to do so quickly. Cleaning logs hanging on the back of bathroom doors are no longer even close to good enough.

3
Brian Cluster
Brian Cluster
Member
3 years ago

The playbooks are likely very complete in terms of cleaning various areas of the store, handling of food, managing customers that are not following the rules, and establishing a protocol for employees and their behavior and processes. But I believe that in these trying times, there has to be a balance between the stick and the carrot.

The retailers are asking the right questions and planning to make the store environment as safe as possible. But how might they make it more enjoyable for their employees which will reflect positively on the customer interactions? With all of this reporting and auditing, is there an opportunity for individual stores to have a reward at the end of the month, a “socially distancing employee party” or some other fun perk that recognizes their hard work and adherence to the new policies?

0
Suresh Chaganti
Suresh Chaganti
Member
3 years ago

The challenge for retailers is that most of the protocols are recommended and not legally mandated. That means optics become very important. Conscientious retailers can be expected to make good faith efforts, but these protocols become expensive to maintain. Like everything else, probably there will be good/better/best variants to start with and retailers will eventually return to an average level based on what everyone else is doing.

2
Georganne Bender
Georganne Bender
Active Member
3 years ago

My personal observation is that most shoppers are more interested in being back in stores than they are in all the safety measures. In Illinois masks are required, and although things about shopping right now are different, customers seem to have adapted to the changes and have moved on.

I visited a Von Maur department store in Wisconsin where masks are recommended; I saw few shoppers wearing them and social distancing for the most part was not being practiced. Store associates were all masked, and safety protocols were in place, but customers seemed oblivious to everything but shopping.

And maybe that’s the thing: We have read so much about what retailers are doing to keep us safe that we just assume we will be fine on the sales floor. For all of the pontificating about how retail will be impacted forever you would think it’s a whole new world on the sales floor. It’s not. Obviously, someone forgot to tell the customer.

7
Brandon Rael
Brandon Rael
Active Member
Reply to  Georganne Bender
3 years ago

Spot on as always Georganne!

2
Georganne Bender
Georganne Bender
Active Member
Reply to  Brandon Rael
3 years ago

Thanks, Brandon! Shoppers are resilient.

2
Brandon Rael
Brandon Rael
Active Member
Reply to  Georganne Bender
3 years ago

Yes! Especially when retailers, economists, consultants, and other experts underestimate their resiliency and ability to adapt.

2
Richard Hernandez
Richard Hernandez
Member
3 years ago

Customers are more savvy than they are given credit for. It is great to have procedures documented, but it’s the execution that will make or break customer trust in the retailer. Additionally, employees have to believe in what is being asked of them as well. If you don’t have both, it can spell a bad time for a comeback to normal by that retailer.

3
Bob Phibbs
Bob Phibbs
Active Member
3 years ago

I agree on this. Whether you like it or not America is ready to move on to the next crisis – cities burning. I’ve seen playbooks of up to 78 pages for a retailer – really? Who thinks that will happen in the field? Not me. And all of these additional ideas have a cost and a result. Simplicity will be the best tactic going forward that can be repeated for months. I don’t think America is ready to do appointment-only/scanning every forehead/etc. and have the joy of shopping feel like a trip to a sick ward.

2
Ken Morris
Ken Morris
Active Member
3 years ago

I believe documented accountability is a requirement as we reopen. We need to maintain the trust factor with the customer base. Operating and shopping as usual is not the playbook going forward. We have been changed forever, like it or not, and we need to change the game. The compliance workflow idea resonates with me as one of the go forward keys to long term success. Tools like Reflexis, Opterus, ThinkTime and Workjam can be leveraged to enforce accountability with their closed loop notification and escalation capabilities.

4
Jeff Weidauer
Jeff Weidauer
Member
3 years ago

The focus so far has been on optics: hand sanitizer, floor decals, a clerk wiping down carts. The measures have no teeth, and stores are forced to decide what to enforce and how to enforce it. Customers are ready to get back to normal and will quickly forget the hardships, but the risk remains and retailers will be held accountable over the long term.

3
Laura Davis-Taylor
Laura Davis-Taylor
Member
Reply to  Jeff Weidauer
3 years ago

I agree, and the jury is still out. One thing I believe strongly is that the concern is not if the store is safe … it’s if the store is taking measures to protect them from the other shoppers that don’t care about the health and wellness of others, thereby bringing safety concerns with them as they leave their mark on the store environment. And let’s be real, that was a thing before COVID–it’s just that now it has more dire consequences.

Like everything else in relation to retail stores, the CX designed around this is key. Part of that is ensuring that shoppers know that a safety protocol is a secured safety measure, not just an operational process box check. Optics go both ways.

0
Bob Amster
Bob Amster
Active Member
3 years ago

This is a function of company culture and, within that culture, how and how often must corporate leadership drive the message down to the lowest level of the field organization. Retail has the (technical) tools. Retailers can produce videos for stores’ hourly and managerial personnel to view. They can deliver audio messages to all store personnel (I am working with a product company that does exactly that, and very effectively). They can drive appropriate and catchy signage (whether hard copy or digital) that drives home the concepts and the protocols for re-opening safely, and they should create a help desk group within the operations department that will answer questions and take on suggestions from the field. It’s all question of how important top management perceives these actions to be.

3
Cathy Hotka
Cathy Hotka
Active Member
3 years ago

The Store Operations Council is prepping a follow-on document to Reopening Retail Safely; our main finding is that leadership is the most important factor in a successful reopen, not cleaning tactics. Think big, retailers!

2
Dr. Stephen Needel
Dr. Stephen Needel
Member
3 years ago

It’s all about the optics and very few will really care what you, the retailer, are doing. Those who care deeply are also likely to be those who are going to be skeptical of whatever you tell them or show them. Keep it simple – do at least what corporate says to do. If someone asks what that is, have a handout showing what that is. And then focus on business.

1
Ben Ball
Ben Ball
Member
3 years ago

Would you still be taking your shoes off to go through airport security if the TSA didn’t police it? Of course shoppers will consider most of this optics — particularly actions they are required to take — and will abandon them quickly as the virus fades. After all, how deadly was shopping without a mask pre-COVID-19? As for retailer actions, those that are static will remain. Plexiglass screens at checkouts. Touchless payment and delivery where possible. Those that require documented accountability such as more frequent cleaning will depend on the retailer. But retailers should remember that clean bathrooms always increase customer retention and loyalty. Improved practices that are visible to shoppers will do the same, COVID-19 or not.

1
Zach Zalowitz
Zach Zalowitz
3 years ago

These measures are only good to the extent that people are notified of them and see and perceive them as being done. As an example, for a grocery store that has been open all along, it’s critical someone near the grocery carts is seen at all times, reassuring that the carts are indeed clean and ready to use. Similarly, I think people are going to look to the traditional retailer to tell them what measures they’re taking and, importantly, to see those measures being reinforced verbally and optically to give reassurances that they’re in a safe and “clean” environment. One thing for sure, nothing is going to be normal for a long time, and I imagine these playbooks become game plans for what the new normal becomes.

2
Ryan Grogman
Ryan Grogman
3 years ago

They were and are a great first step, but retailers across all segments absolutely have to move beyond the playbooks and customer-facing signs. Shoppers ultimately spend their money with brands they trust, and that trust is now extending beyond traditional product quality and value into their own health concerns. As stories continue to emerge about how retailers are handling non-compliant employees or patrons, customers will have to decide if the right accountability measures are in place for them to maintain their trust in that brand.

3
Ryan Mathews
Ryan Mathews
Active Member
3 years ago

Playbooks are helpful, but no match for human irrationality. Even though we are still locked down in Michigan people are walking around unmasked en masse, garage sales are starting to open up, and I see more people walking into stores without masks, without observing social distancing rules, etc. Thirty minutes is a lot of time for contagion to spread, so how comfortable are customers concerned about COVID-19 ever going to be in those McDonald’s restaurants or knowing it’s been a half an hour since the person touching their food washed their hands? Bottom line: it all depends on what happens. If people start dying again we have one scenario. If they don’t, we’ll see.

1
Gene Detroyer
Gene Detroyer
Trusted Member
3 years ago

From what I have seen so far, the people who work in the stores are the most careful. I have seen similar personal safety precautions from workers no matter if the store is highly compliant or not.

What worries me is the customers. As time has gone on, they seem to be more and more relaxed about safety.

Certainly all retailers should give consistent guidance to appropriate protocols. But let’s think a minute. Who is at the biggest risk? Those who work in the stores and see a multitude of people coming into their store in an hour, a day or a week or the the shopper who comes in contact with a very few store personnel for a limited time?

3
Ralph Jacobson
Ralph Jacobson
Member
3 years ago

This is all about the perennial challenge of retail execution. Forever, stores have been challenged to reflect corporate leadership’s directives, whether it be merchandising, promo displays, or in this case safety and sanitation guidelines. True leadership with prevail at those retail companies that take this seriously.

1
Brandon Rael
Brandon Rael
Active Member
3 years ago

Our new normal is changing by the day, so any documented reopening playbook will have to be a living breathing, organic, and evolving document. The playbook will represent the foundation retailers and consumer-facing organizations could start with, however it will all come down to execution on the sales floor, and part of the new culture companies will need to provide a safe and sanitary place to shop.

There also has to be a close alignment with the local governments to ensure that the stores and restaurants are compliant with the changing rules and regulations. Retailers will have to ensure that their store associates are well-trained, empowered and have a full understanding of what it takes to run a safe retail operation in our post-COVID-19 world.

2
Dave Nixon
Dave Nixon
Reply to  Brandon Rael
3 years ago

Brandon — 100% agree! I suggest more of a framework approach than a documented policy standard, and it needs to be dynamically refreshed as times and needs change.

2
Mark Price
Mark Price
Member
3 years ago

Consumers will not forget the impact of the pandemic at any time real soon. It is critical for retailers to make sure that they are addressing consumer safety issues in a consistent, verifiable and transparent manner. In order for the stores to assure compliance of procedures, both systems and values must be addressed. The real reason for all these procedures is to keep your customers safe from harm. The only way to ensure adherence to the procedures is to instill that value clearly in the store associate level; otherwise, the associates will find ways to short change the procedures over time.

0
Harley Feldman
Harley Feldman
3 years ago

Documented accountability of the processes retailers are using to re-open their stores is an important tool to ensure that the stores are safe places for their employees and customers. The data is more important to the store as the customers will assume the retailer is doing everything to make their stores safe. As customers have good experiences in stores and feel comfortable shopping, it will not take long for things to get back to shopping as usual.

Retailers can best assure compliance by establishing CDC standards of social distancing, cleaning, facemasks, etc., then tracking how the standards are measured and followed.

1
Patricia Vekich Waldron
Patricia Vekich Waldron
Member
3 years ago

There has always been a gap between corporate strategy and field execution, and local leadership and training makes the difference. What I’ve observed here in SoCal is that store employees are far more diligent than customers in maintaining social distance, following one-way aisle directions, etc.

4
Dave Nixon
Dave Nixon
3 years ago

Consider a playbook more like a framework. Each retailer needs to have a set of guidelines and standards defined in a playbook that serves to protect shoppers and associates and measure compliance, but individual stores need the ability to adapt policies or procedures that are relevant to their particular store. One playbook across the landscape of a retail brand is not a realistic approach for all stores and ignores some of the specific store needs.

0
Oliver Guy
Oliver Guy
Member
3 years ago

There has been some amazing adaptability and rapid transformation in light of covid these past months. It could well be a long time before shopping returns to normal — indeed if it ever does. Retailers need to invest in their omni-channel offer because during this pandemic new customers have bought online will not want to go back to a store.

Stores will ask customers to exhibit “common sense” but there are things that the retailer can do. For example Aldi in Europe have installed automated doors that let a maximum number of people in the store to enable social distancing. While this kind of approach has an impact in terms of doing the “right thing” by the customer it also limits the retailer’s capacity to sell — hence driving the need to invest in their omnichannel capability with delivery, curb-side pick up and new innovative approaches.

1
Ricardo Belmar
Ricardo Belmar
Active Member
3 years ago

It’s one thing to be very detailed and transparent about what your plan is to ensure people feel safe in your stores, but it’s another to prove that you are following those procedures and ensure compliance at all levels. Yes, many retailers have done a great job telling customers what they will be doing, but now is the time, as stores are reopening, to be equally transparent about compliance with those guidelines in a visible way. Store ops need to place proper tracking mechanisms in place for stores to document all of the procedures are being followed as planned. This is both for the benefit of employees as much as customers.

1
Scott Norris
Scott Norris
Member
3 years ago

Very interested to see what kind of incentives and penalties McDonald’s puts into its franchise agreements around safety. They’ve been bold at subsidizing US locations to remodel from the foundation up, and I can imagine their future marketing being equally bold: “Clean ingredients. Clean stores. Safety and fairness for our people. Value you can trust.” (I don’t care if it’s McDonald’s, but I want *some* QSR to run with this!)

2
@therealspencer
@therealspencer
3 years ago

Nice article here, Adrian.

There will be a day (soon) when a savvy trade group and/or supplier will lead industries into a universal rating and certification for compliance and governance over these issues. Maybe coming from a surprising source. Remember that it was Michelin (a tire company) that first gave Europeans a restaurant quality rating that is now the most trusted and most sought after acknowledgement in that industry.

Will there be a Michelin, ISO-9001 or DTS Surround Sound equivalent that provides the standardization, quality assurance and security shoppers will rely on?

My experience says, “yes.”

2