Feature
James Morris-Manuel
Reopening Retail: How Digital Twin Technology Enables Social Distancing And Safe Shopping
By James Morris-Manuel, EMEA Managing Director at Matterport
The coronavirus pandemic has proven to be a catalyst for a seismic change across the business world. The retail industry felt the effects of COVID-19 more than most, with non-essential brick-and-mortar stores closed as lockdowns forced shoppers to stay at home. At the beginning of the pandemic, the headlines were filled with empty shelves and panic buying, but this has now shifted to store closures and job losses. Yet hope is on the horizon, with the distribution of multiple vaccines and Boris Johnson’s latest announcement that retailers can reopen their doors from 12 April. Most recently, we have seen promises of government grants to support struggling stores, as Rishi Sunak plans to offer 700,000 retailers and other businesses grants as part of a £5billion rescue scheme to prevent mass bankruptcies.
Many retailers are now rejoicing and eager to reopen to the public. But Matterport research¹ shows that if retailers want footfall to return to their stores, they will need to reassure consumers that shops are safe and healthy environments. In fact, 66% of respondents in an international survey cited “crowded stores” as their top concern, while 36% were most concerned by “the fear of getting sick”’. This highlights the importance of retailers using different approaches to the traditional promotion and marketing activities of a pre-COVID-19 world to entice customers and restore shopper confidence.
Facilities Managers: the unsung heroes in a post coronavirus retail world
This is where the retail facilities manager comes into play, whose role went through something of an unexpected transformation last year. Responsible for the maintenance of retail stores, and most importantly its people, facilities managers needed to take immediate action towards implementing the correct health and safety guidelines and precautions when COVID-19 first hit. Suddenly, strategically-placed hand sanitation stations and floor graphics marking 2-metre safety distances became the all important differentiator between entering a store and continuing along the high street. Shelves and POS displays needed to be reconfigured to allow for one-way systems throughout stores, and entirely new considerations for managing traffic flow and crowd control had to be factored into store layouts.
Facilities managers also became the leaders of hygiene and health initiatives within the store. Having a carefully coordinated approach to help mitigate the risks for the retailer and its staff, and also allay customer concerns became paramount. More importantly, the new store set-up and safety procedures had to be implemented consistently across multiple branches, simultaneously. With responsibilities for planning and redesigning high-density spaces to ensure a smooth shopping experience during an age of intense uncertainty and disruption, the retail facilities manager emerged, rather unexpectedly as perhaps one of the most important people on the team - virtually overnight.
Boris Johnson’s ‘Road to Recovery’ has indicated that the retail industry could open its doors again in just a few months’ time, with non- essential retail businesses eligible for grants of up to £6,000 to help them reopen. As the world begins to return to a ‘new-normal’, facilities managers are grappling with the best ways to maintain social distancing to reassure housebound consumers longing for the familiarity and joy of an in-person shopping experience. But they must also make in-person shopping a COVID-19 safe space - both now, and in the longer term. Innovative technology presents enormous opportunities to address these challenges and design shopping experiences that protect not only customers, but also employees, staging teams, and all other relevant stakeholders. Facilities managers can leverage digital twin technology to drive these positive changes in the shopping environment - not only for that all-important reopening date, but also to stay one step ahead in the long term, for future resilience.
36 fmuk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
