NEWS EXTRA
MERCHANTS TAKE PRACTICAL STEPS TO PROTECT THEIR BUSINESSES AND SAVE LIVES
Andy Scothern looks at some of the steps merchants can take in these unprecedented times.
A
s the Coronavirus crisis escalates, many builders’ merchants are rightly worried about
the future and how it will affect their business going forward. They should be, as merely closing down for the next 3 or 4 weeks will not be sufficient to remove the risks associated with the crisis. An article by MIT Technology
Review suggests that Covid-19 will be to builders’ merchants what the 9/11 terrorist attack was to airports, which led to wholesale and profound changes in the way they operate. The encouraging thing is that after the initial shock of those changes, we adapted and airports work just fine now. If you are in any doubt about how to operate, the BMF are regularly publishing up to date government guidance on their website
www.bmf.org.uk. While there remain many unknowns, one thing is absolutely clear: If you are solely reliant on a face-to-face branch business model and don’t have a fit-for- purpose digital operation, you will be exposed if branches are forced to close.
We have seen many merchants rushing forward their digital launches ready for this eventuality, and online sales are hitting unprecedented levels. Also, the new consumer behaviour of ordering online is likely to become ingrained, so even after the pandemic crisis is over, this side of the business is likely to remain strong.
However, even if your online operation is not where you would like it to be, there are plenty of practical steps that you can take to keep trading in your branches while keeping both your staff and customers safe.
As the managing director of a company that produces websites for builders’ merchants and a
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regular attendee of BMF events, I spend a lot of my time talking to our clients to see how we can support them. This means that I get a good overview of what is happening out there. In the last few days, I have heard of some great examples on some of the steps that merchants have taken. The matter is so important that I wanted to share these practical examples. None of them are difficult to implement in your branches; many of them will be necessary in the post-crisis world.
The first thing to state is that the safety of your staff and customers must come first. That means that you have to take steps to protect them. If you can’t, then you cannot remain open at this time of national crisis. If you can, then issue the appropriate PPE to staff members.
Risks can be managed if you get all the right measures in place: As with many things in life, common sense coupled with washing hands, cleaning regularly touched surfaces e.g. door handles and card machines and social distancing are a great place to start.
Reducing contact risk by keeping customers out of your branches is likely the best course of action and even better if you can do deliveries only and keep customers out of your yard too. If you do deliveries, call ahead and make sure customers know to keep away from your delivery drivers and remove the need to sign paperwork for the time being.
Promote your eCommerce website and phone number with posters, social media, email, statement stuffers. Use any communication channel you have available to you to make
them aware that they don’t need to order in person. Remote ordering remains the safest way for builders to order materials at this time. We have been offering a free marketing toolkit during this period to all of our clients to make sure that builders are aware of this option. If your online operation is not as advanced as you would like it to be, then bolster your phone sales lines in the short-term. For collected orders, take payments online or over the phone and encourage customers to stay in their vehicles by telling them to call ahead or allocate collection time slots to them. They can then stay in their vehicles while they are loaded.
If you do allow
customers inside your branches:
Put up a notice at the entrance asking that only the people who need to be inside your branches are there. You don’t want people bringing children into branches as per the HSE directive which states: “Where practicable and in so far as is possible, parents are encouraged to limit bringing their children with them when visiting essential retail outlets.” Put someone on the door to regulate entry and to ask which products customers need. Then direct them to those products to minimise the amount of time spent wandering around the branch. You can also enforce the ban on groups gathering and over-crowding as well as making masks available at the door for customers to use.
Make sure that customers are aware of what is acceptable and what is not. Put up posters informing them of the rules during this time. Most people will understand the importance of following them but those that don’t should be ejected from the
store.
Implement a one-way system marked on the floors of the aisles with arrows that will prevent people from passing each other where there is a significant chance of close contact. Put up signs saying ‘no passing’ in aisles. Install sanitiser stations and direct people to it immediately on entering the store and by the payment terminals, as keypads are likely to be a hotspot for virus transfer. Better still if they can use contactless payment. Provide clear advice to
customers on where they should stand when ordering in your branches. This can be a simple matter of marking out the floor with tape along with clear instructions such as ‘wait here’ and ‘order here’. When marking out, keep in mind the 2-metre distancing rule.
Install Perspex screens at order desks to protect your staff and customers. Your frontline staff will be at greatest risk, as they are likely to come into contact with the greatest number of people during the day. This simple and cheap solution will offer them greater protection.
Communicate with staff
Ensure all your staff are fully aware of the steps you are taking - this will give them the confidence that you are taking their health and safety seriously. Making sure that everyone is kept informed during times of crisis is critical to achieving the best outcomes.
Keep your back-office staff safe. Your business needs the back office to remain viable, and there are steps you can take to minimise the risk of everyone being off ill at the same time. Split your teams up so that this risk is minimised.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net April 2020
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