With danger comes opportunity, however, as fall months and the holiday shopping season drive large crowds, sales, and high revenues. To make the most out of this profitable opportunity, property owners are encouraged to get proactive in accident prevention. In addition to hiring maintenance personnel and reviewing proper cleaning protocol, property owners are wise to evaluate the premises and think of cost effective ways to invest in safety products that will keep heavily trafficked areas clean, dry, and safe.

Mats, Stanchions, Umbrella Wrappers, & More

1. Outdoor Rubber Matting

Safety mats made of 100% commercial-grade rubber Nitrile make superb outdoor entrance mats. With deep surface grooves, these mats aggressively “squeegee” shoes clean of both dirt and moisture.

2. Indoor Walk-Off Mats

Just inside entryways, carpet surfaced “walk off mats” are an ideal supplement to outdoor mats. Not only do these heavy duty mats deliver a high degree of traction on slick entryway floors, they also provide a second line of defense against incoming dirt, moisture, and bacteria. After crossing both outdoor mats and indoor walk-off mats, industry experts estimate that up to 60% of incoming debris can be contained and prevented from entering the rest of the facility.

3. Recessed Grill Systems

Some facilities experience such a high degree of visitor inflow and outflow that special solutions are needed. For these facilities, recessed grill systems provide superior cleaning and containment of incoming debris.

4. Crowd Control Systems

Beyond the entryway, property owners must make an effort to control crowds, keep products accessible, and provide service in an efficient manner. Crowd control systems can help, giving managers the ability to assemble custom line queues to organize customers according to their needs. Moreover, effective crowd management can significantly improve the rate at which customers are serviced, which ultimately enhances both revenue and customer experience.

5. Umbrella Bag Dispensers

Both rain and snow present a serious problem for property owners, particularly when guests rush throw entryways with wet or snow covered umbrellas. On days of inclement weather, wet umbrellas track water well beyond the absorbent surfaces of entrance mats, causing puddles and slick spots in hard-to-see areas. Wet umbrella bag dispensers provide a highly effective solution, enabling guests to wrap their umbrellas upon entering the building.

Shop Automatic Wet Umbrella Wrappers

Visit Umbrella Bagger for additional information on wet umbrella bag dispensers, disposable bags, and other safety products. For order information and assistance, call toll free 1-855-328-8100.

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Before attempting to improve customer experience, it is vital for all members of the organization to share a clear definition of what customer experience means. By definition, customer experience is a qualitative value that sums each of the interactions that occur between a customer and a business throughout the lifespan of the relationship they share.

Improve Customer Experience with These Tips

The interactions that make-or-break customer experience does not occur exclusively in-store, however. Digital interactions like TV commercials, radio spots, print ads, email campaigns, and social media all make significant contributions to the overall customer experience. Businesses must be mindful of this when creating a customer experience enhancement program.

Make a Good First Impression

Making a good first impression sets a solid foundation for building a positive customer experience. In general, the goal should be to make the customer as comfortable as possible. In return, the customer can more easily be guided to an appropriate purchase that he or she will make with confidence. This can be accomplished through both in-store ambiance, as well as with well-trained customer service professionals.

• Use a color scheme that resonates with the goal of your business. If you are a travel agency, vibrant colors and earthy décor can aid in creating the “escape” experience that your customers desire. For banks and financial institutions, however, a cooler color scheme with blacks, deep blues, and graphite accents can promote feelings of safety and confidence.
• Maintain a professional appearance. Use floor mats, signs, and other safety products to promote a clean and professional appearance during business hours. During fall and winter months, offer customers an easy way to stow their wet umbrellas with wet umbrella bag stands.
• Focus on comprehensive employee training. list (clear protocol for handling specific types of customer interactions, ongoing training to improve service, training to learn about new products/ services, etc) To create an excellent customer experience, employees must be prepared to handle customer complaints—both the common and the rare.

Maintain a Safe Environment

Creating a safe and professional environment is just the starting point. Once created, management must devise practical strategies for maintaining a safe in-store environment.

• Regularly clean floor spaces along heavily trafficked areas, like entryways and elevator lobbies.
• Designate specific members of the maintenance team as responsible for reporting and responding to dangerous conditions, like puddles, faulty product displays, illegible warning signs, and other potentially hazardous elements within the retail space.
• When offering wet umbrella bags to customers on days of inclement weather, make sure dispenser stands are properly deployed and remind maintenance staffs to check them throughout peak hours, re-stocking with additional bags when necessary.

Focus on Touch Points to Enhance Customer Experience

As we’ve seen, enhancing customer experience in today’s digitally connected world requires businesses to identify and connect with customers in both real-world and virtual. While in-store promotions attract customers to physical storefronts, it’s digital channels like social media and email that often nurture customers until they are ready to make a purchase. By considering, business professionals can devise a comprehensive strategy for delivering a higher level of service that ultimately leads to a better experience, both in the store and online.

Visit Umbrella Bagger for additional information on wet umbrella bag dispensers, disposable bags, and other safety products. For order information and assistance, call toll free 1-855-328-8100.

For follow-up reading, visit this article on customer experience via Forrester, a global research and advisory board.

The post Customer Experience Enhancement for Retail Businesses appeared first on Umbrella Bagger Blog.

In the wake of such tragedy, it becomes increasingly important for retail outlets to proactively anticipate and manage crowds, particularly when a holidays, big sales events, or bouts of inclement weather make operations inherently more dangerous. This is not a new responsibility, however.

As early as 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Act extends responsibility to employers for making workplaces a safe and healthy environment for employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) further encourages employers to deploy methods of identifying and neutralizing hazards in the workplace, which can include large crowds.

Crowd Management for Retailers: Tips from OSHA

Retailers are encouraged to review the following tips from OSHA on effective crowd management in retail outlets. To make it easier for employers to foresee and prevent dangerous situations, OSHA advises that events be characterized and considered along 4 distinct phases: Event Planning, Event Setup, and Event Execution.

Event Planning

1. Hire additional staff to monitor and control areas where larger crowds are expected. Depending on the event, employers or property owners may wish to hire police officers and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to standby in case of emergency.
2. Take proactive measures to ensure each employee is properly trained to handle his or her responsibilities during the event.
3. Delegate the responsibility of dialing 9-1-1- for emergencies to a specific individual, should an emergency occur.
4. Collaborate with in-store managers and other safety specialists to develop an Emergency Plan that details a course of action for all likely emergencies. Emergency Plans should focus on protecting employees from common dangers like overcrowding, being stuck in a crowd, violent acts, and fire.

Event Setup

1. Use crowd control measures to encourage crowds to flow in a safe and effective manner. Products to use include barriers, ropes, stanchions, and signs.
2. Designate an employee to help approaching customers enter the crowd control queue in a safe and orderly manner.
3. Make sure all employees have communication devices (i.e. radios) with fully charged batteries.
4. Consider controlling visitor flow by issuing bracelets or tickets that grant entry during a specific time window.
5. If there are certain products that can easily be sold online, consider offering a special for those items (i.e. free shipping) to make the sale without requiring customers to visit the storefront.
6. Distribute sale items, along with their respective banners/ sales displays, throughout the facility to avoid overcrowding in certain areas.

Event Execution

1. Give employees an easy way to enter/exit the facility through special “Employee Only” areas.
2. Always alert employees prior to the opening of main doors/ other crowded points of entry.
3. Consider aligning police officers or other uniformed personnel along major areas of entry/exit to encourage crowds to remain orderly.
4. Communicate with crowds via speakers, bullhorns, or other audible means.
5. Be vigilant in monitoring occupancy, and cut-off entrants as soon as occupancy is reached.
6. Provide a safe and accessible entrance for individuals with disabilities.

To review this fact sheet in full, visit OSHA® online.

Learn More About Accident Prevention During Events

To learn more about preventing accidents with industry-leading safety products, contact Umbrella Bagger online or call customer services for complimentary consultation at 855-328-8100.

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