10 minute read
Retailers are enhancing their commitment to in-store health and safety with new sanitization initiatives
from CSA - Jan/Feb 2021
by ensembleiq
Spotlight on Store Sanitization
By Deena AmatoMcCoy
The pandemic forced retailers to rethink how to sanitize shared spaces. Committed to supporting employee and customer health, retailers are creating new health policies and procedures, and adopting new equipment, such as innovative air filters, to deliver safer shopping environments.
That’s according to Jessica Rose Cooper, chief commercial officer for International Well Building Institute (IWBI), which works to bring health-focused design and policy solutions to diverse buildings and human environments worldwide.
Chain Store Age spoke with Cooper about how retailers are renewing their commitment to store-level health and safety.
How has the pandemic impacted retail facilities maintenance?
Retailers are now tasked with understanding and implementing strategies to support public health, and this includes rethinking their spaces from a health and wellness lens.
For many retailers, this new normal will include updating policies and procedures to facilitate a healthy and safe facility for all and implementing maintenance procedures designed to enhance indoor health and safety and reduce the risk of disease transmission. It also means increasing customer communication, education and signage to capture important updates, activities and information.
What sanitization initiatives can position retailers for long-term success?
Retailers need to be continually evolving their processes so we can respond more efficiently to future circumstances. For example, it is critical for operators to implement rigorous cleaning practices among high-touch areas, such as doorknobs, handles, switches and countertops, among other locations. They should also keep a cleaning log to increase accountability.
There is work to be done on the air quality side as well. For example, it is critical to keep indoor air as fresh as possible. This can be achieved by filtering fresh outdoor air into stores. Operators should start the process by evaluating their filtration system and introducing outdoor air on a real-time basis.
This machinery should also run after hours when the retail space is not in use. Some retailers are also reducing customer capacities, a move that keeps more fresh air in the space and provides customers with more fresh air, as well.
The second line of defense is stepping up filtration practices. This could include installing HEPA or MERV-13 filters that increase particulate filtration capabilities. These filters are designed to catch larger particles that the COVID-19 virus attaches itself to and remove them from air.
If companies do not have the ability to make these changes, they can consider adding an air purifier in retail spaces. These stand-alone units also help mitigate air transmission.
What advice do you have for retailers committed to keeping their stores safe for customers and employees?
While design, operations and protocols (open doors and windows, enhanced cleaning measures, social distancing) all play a critical role in minimizing transmission, the most important thing any retailer can do is encourage people (customers and employees) to wear a mask properly and stay home when they feel sick.
What can retailers do to manage customer expectations regarding safety?
We are constantly learning new information about the COVID-19 pandemic and, with that, continually enhancing guidance around best practices. That’s why it is so critical that retailers not only take an evidence-based, holistic approach to fighting the virus, but also effectively communicate that approach to customers to help manage their expectations and enable them to engage in safe and healthy behaviors.
IWBI can help retailers achieve this goal through the Well Health-Safety Rating, an evidence-based, third-party verified rating for all facility types. It focuses on operational policies, maintenance protocols, emergency plans and stakeholder education to address a postCOVID-19 environment now and broader health and safety-related issues into the future.
The Well Health-Safety Rating serves as road map for retailers to implement evidencebased strategies that address their unique retail spaces. Upon completion, the Well HealthSafety seal signifies that the retail space has made a commitment to supporting employee and customer health.
Facilities Management: New Best Practices
By Barry Wood
Long before COVID-19 was even a part of our vocabularies, retail stores have strived to keep their locations clean, safe and visually pleasing. But facilities have been thrust into the forefront of public concern over the past year, as the unknown surrounding virus transmission has redefined proper facilities management.
As we look at 2021 with hope — hope that better days will soon be here — now is the time to ensure our operations meet the new consumer standards we can expect even beyond COVID-19.
Early into the pandemic, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems (HVAC) made headlines as possible super-spreaders of the virus. While droplet transmission is believed to be the most common and likely means of infection, the role HVAC plays is still a point of contention. Nonetheless, even with the typical high ceilings found in retail spaces, a poorly managed system still poses the risk of spreading contaminated air.
Re-evaluate current systems in place and assess how air is currently moving. For example, if a customer removes their mask in a fitting room and sneezes, the high air flow from the HVAC will undoubtedly move the particles in that space dramatically and have a domino effect on other customers and employees. Diffused air that circulates out and around versus vertically could likely be the future of HVAC implementation in such spaces.
Staying abreast of preventative maintenance should be a key consideration moving forward.
Stained ceilings from HVAC leaks won’t aid consumer confidence, while shopping and uncomfortable and inconsistent store temperatures can be distracting. Even as the vaccine sees further widespread adoption, consumers will remain on high alert for the
Reassess Operational Risk
immediate future, especially as reporting rises around alternate virus strains.
Historically speaking, stores have been designed to house as much product as possible, giving consumers as many options as possible to fit their needs and desires. Between social distancing and the rise in ecommerce, more and more consumers are shifting to instore and curbside pick-up models for fulfillment and returns. Retailers should carefully consider how to efficiently manage and plan for inventory and staffing to accommodate multiple fulfillment options and returns. Offering curbside pick-up only during nonpeak retail hours can be one way to manage and properly prepare for traffic flow.
In a December 2020 shopper insights survey conducted by multidimensional brand experience firm Big Red Rooster, 60% of consumers rated the availability of products that were purchased online for store pick-up as less than perfect, meaning there’s significant demand to increase in-store inventory to account for ecommerce growth.
But preparing for an influx of inventory must be carefully considered. Do you have the equipment to efficiently move product back and forth? Or, do you have the space needed to be moving products through the store? Apparel and shoes may seem like less daunting tasks, but larger products will require the use of carts and a rearranged traffic flow that doesn’t interfere with social distancing.
Increasing communication with neighboring tenants could also help to bridge gaps in fulfillment. Joining forces with neighboring tenants to share third-party labor sources could be a viable solution that also drives savings. By outsourcing curbside pick-up, you can transfer operational risk to the third party, alleviate your own staffing concerns and split the costs with your neighbors.
More retailers are taking a better look at their surfaces as they accommodate social distancing through remodel efforts. They’re shifting away from soft surfaces that could potentially hold harmful contaminants that transmit easily via touch. Ensuring you have maintenance standards for daily cleaning and consistent and clear communications in place for those who will carry out those tasks is critical.
Even as the vaccine brings bright spots to better days, pandemic-proofing your surfaces will help future-proof your operation. Implementing ultra-violet technology could be a valuable investment to restore consumer confidence and maintain a safe atmosphere.
The need to future-proof and plan for the next crisis can’t be stressed enough. And while each emergency presents itself uniquely, we do know one thing: time is of the essence. Don’t wait for the next disaster to re-evaluate your facility management practices. Staying up to date on maintenance and the latest technologies will help ensure the safety of your customers your people.
Prepare for Increased Inventory and Fulfillment Options
Reimagine Design
Stay Prepared
— Barry Wood is director of operations at JLL Retail.
Waste management and recycling have taken on increased importance as retailers commit to corporate sustainability goals. Chain Store Age spoke with Perry Moss, chief advisor at Rubicon, about challenges, best practices and how technology is impacting waste management operations.
What are the top recycling and waste management challenges facing retailers?
Education, program execution, and accountability remain a key challenge in recycling and waste management practices in the retail space. Given all the changes from COVID-19, there are new challenges that retailers have faced such as setting up decontamination programs to keep stores clean and safe, determining how to properly dispose of personal protective equipment and adhering to local and state COVID-19 guidelines that can impact waste and recycling activities.
While food retailers are faced with increasing numbers of regulations related to material recovery (recycling), food waste and food waste packaging. Removing heavy food scraps from the waste stream can provide a significant increase in landfill diversion percentages and help companies achieve waste reduction goals.
What are the biggest mistakes retailers make when it comes to recycling and waste initiatives?
Inconsistent signage and training across locations can lead to confusion for staff. Lack of engagement from management can cause lackadaisical attitudes towards established recycling programs. Similarly, there can be a great opportunity for retailers to look upstream to determine if products are designed for recyclability before the product is consumed and enters the recycling system.
The single most important element in transforming a company into a successful sustainability-oriented business is the adoption and full commitment to recycling, sustainability and the circular economy. Sustainability should become a critical component of the driving force that dictates both corporate and management behavior and drives overall company values. It should be the grounding force that guides the company’s’ decision-making process becomes a mindset or for leaders, employees, and thirdparty contractors.
Another mistake retailers make is not proactively eliminating barriers to change and innovation. The development and implementation of new programs will require investments in service, facilities, resources, realigning management/employee responsibilities, etc. Not carefully considering these investments will compromise the success of any program.
Finally, working with misaligned service partners can hamper recycling and waste management programs. Retailers must ask themselves which service providers’ business model is aligned with their mission and needs. If a retailer wants to be sustainable and divert maximum amounts of materials from landfills, does it make sense to work with a major landfill company that benefits from landfilling materials? If a retailer wants to lower costs through service level efficiencies, does it make sense to work directly with companies that benefit from more services or hauls?
What about best practices for the same?
As noted earlier, clear, and consistent signage and training across locations can help eliminate confusion and reduce contamination, as can developing a systematic, purpose-driven, targeted approach when implementing a comprehensive program. This integrated approach is necessary to predefine and clarify the sustainability and/or waste diversion goals/expectations in order to design effective up- and down-stream methodologies. Effective program design must consider budgetary, operational, and regulatory considerations, while respecting other identified limitations at a minimum.
How has technology impacted waste management?
Technology has provided the ability to capture the impact of recycling and waste activities and develop benchmarks to know where a company is starting from and how it can grow in the future. It allows us to compile data for all types of materials into one platform which leads to cost improvements, process improvements and gains towards sustainability goals. It has dramatically improved transparency and access to data in an otherwise opaque industry. At Rubicon, we use technology to drive environmental innovation and help turn businesses into more sustainable enterprises, and neighborhoods into greener and smarter places to live and work.
What solutions does Rubicon offer retailers in waste management and recycling?
Rubicon is a software company that provides smart waste and recycling solutions for businesses and governments worldwide. Our mission is to end waste by helping Rubicon’s partners find economic value in their waste streams and confidently execute on their sustainability goals.
Our solution for retailers is a one-stopshop technology platform for waste collection visibility that includes real-time service requests and confirmation, bill payment, financial reporting, regulatory and environmental mandate awareness, complete service data, and sustainability/diversion data across all customer locations for all waste and recycling streams.
Rubicon provides a solutions-based platform that maximizes landfill diversion and sustainable practices with access to all service data while making the process of managing waste/recycling easier and more efficient.
