How COVID-19 Will Impact the In-store Shopping Experience
Source: Starbucks
As stores reopen consumers are in store for a new shopping experience. With the coronavirus still present in many cities and communities around the world, retailers are taking necessary precautions to ensure their employees and customers are safe and healthy during this challenging time.
From new mask wearing protocols to limits on in-store traffic to creative ways of helping customers buy beauty products we are in store for shopping in a way we never have before.
“Over the last several years, the way stores fought back against online was to suggest that the experience was worth the trip,” said Simeon Siegel, a managing director at BMO Capital Markets who covers retail and e-commerce. “In this new normal, for now, the experience is what puts you at risk. So it falls to the retailers to figure out how to create a socially distanced experience that makes the trip worth the inconvenience and the risk.”
If you are curious about what the new normal might look like take a look at what Starbucks, Best Buy and others have in store for when you venture back out to shop at your favourite retailers.
1. Starbucks
By June 1, 2020, 90% of Starbucks stores in the United States will be open for business. No more lounging with a cup of coffee in one hand and a muffin in the other at your favourite Starbucks, at least for now. When Starbucks opens its doors the focus will be on pick up, either at new “entryways” or through the drive thru. Starbucks is also expanding the number of areas that are serviced by Uber Eats to increase mobile ordering capacity. In selected Starbucks locations customers are allowed inside but seating will be removed and social distancing rules apply.
Source: Starbucks
2. Best Buy
Best Buy is also taking a cautious approach to reopening. This May Best Buy will start by reopening 200 Best Buy stores in the United States for in-store consultations that are by appointment only. This measure will give Best Buy the ability to limit the number of customers in its stores thereby adhering to social distancing protocols.
During a customer’s in-store appointment, additional precautions will be taken to minimize risk of transmitting the coronavirus. For example, before and after a customer handles any merchandise at Best Buy it will be sanitized. A sales associate will shop alongside customers during their appointment while maintaining social distancing. If a customer uses a credit card machine it will be disinfected after use. Surfaces will also be disinfected. This appointment only service is targeted at more complex purchases of items like appliances and networking equipment.
“Now, a month later, the world has learned much more about the virus, and we’ve taken the time to build what we believe are the right processes, acquire the right equipment, and create the right employee training” said Best Buy’s CEO, Corie Barry.
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3. Sephora
The beauty industry thrives on high touch service. From using testers to try on mascara to getting a custom makeup application to having a facial, beauty retailers like Sephora and Ulta Beauty are dependent on services like these.
At Sephora in China a number of precautions are being taken to keep the pandemic at bay. Employees wear masks and check customers’ temperatures. Tools that are used to apply makeup like mascara wands are now individually wrapped. Stores are sanitized every two hours and sales associates spray packages with disinfectant when customers are checking out.
The risk of transmitting viruses or bacteria at the makeup counter is not a new one. A 2018 study found that 40% of product testers at beauty stores including Sephora, Shoppers Drug Mart, The Body Shop and MAC Cosmetics contained staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The advent of the pandemic means that it will become safer to shop in these stores. “We recognize the shopping experience for beauty will be changed forever because of this,” said Credo Beauty Co-Founder and COO Annie Jackson “[Providing] testers that are freely open and available for people to try is not going to be able to be done anymore” said Jackson.
3. Macy’s
Macy’s stores will start to reopen in the United States on May 4, 2020. Since the coronavirus can last on surfaces, after customers either try on or return merchandise, items will be held for 24 hours before another customer can access it. But in general, most fitting rooms will be closed.
In the beauty department Macy’s is only offering no touch consultations where customers are not allowed to use testers for products like lipstick or mascara. Employees will apply requested makeup to a face chart which is visual representation of the customer’s face on a sheet of paper to show customers what the makeup could look like if it was applied on them. Spa services are unavailable.
If you want to try on jewellery or watches while shopping at Macy’s you will have to apply hand sanitizer first. Not all Macy’s stores will open in the same manner. Some will only offer in-store pickup or curbside pickup. Macy’s believes during the first week when its stores are open it will likely only generate 20% of typical sales volume.