Editorial Letter

from OTC - June 2020

Clipper Tips

A New Normal

Never in my wildest dreams did I think the entire world economy could come to a grinding halt. I would have never imagined that business, as we know it, would shut down, leaving many of us to wonder about what’s to come. But thanks to COVID-19, that’s precisely what’s happened.

Some OTC store owners became creative, offering curbside pickup and even online shopping to cater to their customers, but others shut their doors with fear that they’d be unable to open again. Thankfully, many states are allowing their businesses to reopen, but nothing will return to normal as we knew it.

Your stores will have to be cleaner than ever before. You’ll need to be mindful of social distancing, and you’ll need to reconsider how you serve your customers. If e-commerce scared you before, it might be time to rethink that stance. At the time this magazine went to print, there were no guarantees that we were out of the woods yet. Now is the time to improve and prepare so that your OTC is ready rather than dread what may or may not come.

In this month’s edition, we offer tons of tips on how to do just that. In our How Should You Sell It column, we offer advice on how to entice your customers to come back to your shop. In our Knowledge to Know section, we explain how to prepare for your reopening. Most importantly, our Feature story will show you how to create new shopping standards that will keep you and your customers safe.

We know that our industry is resilient. Rest assured, we’ll come back stronger than ever before. I hope this issue empowers you to take the reins of your future and kick off a new season of business with assurance and pride.