Round-up | NEWS
60% of KBB showrooms choose to open by appointment only
SIXTY PERCENT of retailers in England said they opened their showroom by appointment only when restrictions lifted last month, according to a kbbreview survey. Four out of 10 respondents said they would still be offering virtual appointments to those customers who prefer not to come into the showroom in person.
All respondents said they would maintain social distancing rules within the showroom, even if it is open for anyone to walk in without making an appointment. This would include keeping a 2m distance and limiting the number of people allowed into the showroom at one time. Screens, compulsory wearing of face masks and sanitising stations were also often mentioned to ensure that both staff and customers remain safe during appointments or when simply browsing. Richard Hanley, a sales and design consultant at Kitchen Creations by Ability in Chester, said: “We have Track and Trace at the door, with a signing-in sheet. We have hand sanitisers at certain points in the showroom. We will have appointment-only visits with two-and-a-half hours allocated, allowing 30 mins for cleaning the
2m rules and masks, visors, etc. My staff’s safety and the safety of our clients is still paramount.”
Alan Margetts, managing director of The Kitchen Store in Hove, will have a strict procedure for customers coming into the showroom.
He explained: “The same as in 2020, customers must wait in an area to be greeted, they must sanitise their hands and, probably until the summer, will be asked to put on a pair of disposable gloves.”
showroom down.” Diane Berry, owner of Diane Berry Kitchens in Manchester, sees some benefi ts in making her showroom appointment-only. She said: “We are running an appointment system, but for the fi rst time allowing more than one couple in at a time. “We like the locked door, as it offers us a degree of safety along with control. We have a lot of female staff
Retailers: control online or risk losing your reputation
RETAILERS MUST make sure their web presence is the best it can be at a time when making a good impression online is crucial. That is the recommendation of reputation management expert Claire Beaumont (pictured) from Igniyte, speaking in the latest episode of our award-winning kbbreview Podcast. She also knows the KBB industry, as she spent seven years at Symphony managing its PR and content division. Beaumont stresses the importance
of fi nding out how your business appears in search engine results and making sure that presence is as positive as possible.
She said: “If you Google yourself and you see the things that are online, that is your reputation. That is the fi rst impression that people will have if they don’t know you already. See whether that creates a good impression or a bad impression.”
Online reputation is crucial, she says, and suggests some simple steps to check out how your business ranks. She says that ideally your
May 2021 ·
business should be ranking one or two in the result.
She explained: “Go incognito into Google, put in your business name and see what comes up. That should refl ect what people see fi rst about you. “Look at the fi rst page of search results and the summary of reviews you have received on Google Knowledge Centre on the right-hand side of the page.
“If the reviews overall are anything other than massively positive, you need to start taking control of that.”
Beaumont went on to explain the best way to go about doing that: “Work with your marketing department and suppliers, who can often offer experience and advice about how to get a better online presence. “Is you website optimised for your search terms, for your business name, for the local area in which you work? Take control because you don’t want anyone else to.”
Online reviews are also incredibly important and Beaumont has some advice for retailers on how to handle
them more effectively.
She said: “Online reviews are such a powerful tool and it is so important to take control of those reviews and be aware of what people are saying about you online.”
She says that poor reviews can often help to show up any underlying problems in your customer service offering that need to be addressed sooner rather than later.
• Listen to the full interview on The kbbreview Podcast
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so it really is a lovely feeling of safety when the door is locked and people ring a bell. We are hoping to keep this system for the future.
For Kate Holderness, owner of Urban Kitchens in Preston, her main concern is the safety of her staff and clients. She said: “We will still adhere to the rules and precautions we implemented last year. Keeping the showroom clean and user-friendly with
For those choosing to remain open to all, there will be restrictions about how many people are allowed in. Kristjan Lilley, sales manager at H Lilley and Company in Bexley, said: “We will keep with mainly appoint- ments, however walk-ins are welcome. We will limit the amount of people in the shop and maintain all of the Government’s advice by adhering to 2m spacing.” Tony Passmore, managing director of the Passmore Group in Leeds, said he would limit visitors to eight people in each of the showrooms. He said: “We will limit the number of customers at any one time to allow adequate social distancing – up to a maximum of eight people. Masks will be mandatory, as well as sanitising.”
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