COVID-19 brings in ‘quite a few changes’ as retailers learn on the go

Retailers are welcoming customers old and new to their stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, striving all the while to support the local communities, the vulnerable and the needy in particular.

As people change their shopping habits, shun the queues at the supermarkets and head for their local convenience store, retailers are also seeing a sharp uplift in sales.

Mark Love, of Denny Post Office in Falkirk, said he has experienced “quite a few changes.”

“For starters, the way people are using the Post Office has changed – there’s no business banking at the moment with so many companies being closed,” he said. “However, a lot of people are buying and selling on eBay so that’s bringing them into the Post Office.”

Shop sales are up for the time of year and people are supportive of their local shops, he added.  

“Many customers tell us they don’t like queuing to get into the supermarkets and would rather shop locally.”

Pete Singh and Pam Kaur, of KeyStore Dreghorn, concur. Their convenience store and Post Office in Ayrshire has seen sales increase by between 40 percent and 50 percent during lockdown.

“People are coming and telling us they can get certain products from us that they can’t in the supermarkets and that’s good to hear,” Singh, who will have been in the same shop for 36 years come August, said.

“It’s great that they’re coming to us although we’ve sometimes had to limit products like flour and handwash – in fact, we’ve had people coming from miles away because they heard we have flour.”

The store has cut back its trading hours to 7.30am-8pm in order to provide free home deliveries for older and vulnerable customers.

“Business is the busiest it’s ever been,” said AJ Benning, owner of KeyStore More in Gourock, Inverclyde. “It’s been a lot of hard work but everyone’s in the same boat – you just have to get on with it.

“We’re seeing a lot of customers we haven’t seen in the shop before and they all say the same thing – ‘we didn’t know you had so much here’. The challenge, of course, is to do everything we can to keep them coming back when this is all over.”

Very much a neighbourhood retailer, Chris Watson, owner of KeyStore Express in Corseford, Renfrewshire admitted that there were “a few manic days” at the start of lockdown. “We knew things would find their flow but we’ve had to make quite a few changes,” he said.

“As a retailer in a community like mine you have to be able to think on your feet and act quickly,” Watson noted. “With the bad weather and snow during the ‘Beast from the East’ in 2018, stores like mine really stepped up and were able to provide local people with everything they needed.

“Coronavirus, of course, is a beast of a very different nature but it’s been great to see our sector step up again and, in our case, get such fantastic help and support from our wholesaler, Filshill.”

The store has reduced its hours, from 7am-10pm to 8am-8pm. Just three customers are permitted inside at any one time.

“We’ve definitely picked up a lot of new trade and when people see what we do here they’re often quite surprised, in terms of what we sell and also how professional we are. It’s also a new habit for them so we hope they don’t break it!”

Staff, Watson said, are working longer hours but have days off to compensate plus wages have been increased.

“The staff are on the frontline so their safety is paramount,” he said. “We shut for an hour between 2pm and 3pm when we restock clean everything – sneeze guards, counter, door handles and so on – although we’re constantly cleaning throughout the day anyway.”

Mark Love has also done something similar, but soon found that he needs to adjust.

“We’ve learned as we go along,” Mark Love explained. “To start with, we were closing between 1pm and 2pm to restock and clean the shop – sterilising door handles, pin pads and so on but that backfired because come 2pm there was a queue and it became hard to manage.

“I’m in early so I try to keep on top of things then and we restock and clean during quieter times – I really do take my hat off to my staff for their hard work and commitment during what is a difficult time for everyone.”

In Lanark, long-time retailer Wilson Rea is observing some new shopping patterns.

“Thankfully the panic buying situation is over and now we’re seeing some new shopping patterns emerge, for example home baking as parents are at home teaching the kids how to bake and cook. In fact, we’ve never sold so many home-baking products,” he said.

“We’ve also taken the decision to stop selling scratchcards during COVID-19 – products like that are hardly a necessity at this time.”

Food to go at lunchtime has fallen away and overall FTG business is down by about 25 percent although there continues to be a demand for pies and sausage rolls.

Snappy Shopper, the online home delivery platform, is performing well as more people opt for home delivery, he said.

“Some customers are doing their weekly shop through Snappy Shopper and the average basket spend is £42 although our biggest to date was £230.”.

On a less positive note there has been spate of shoplifting in Lanark, not just at Rea’s store but other outlets too.

“It’s difficult because the police just don’t have the resources at the moment,” he said. “Hopefully it will stop but it’s another problem that my hardworking staff have to deal with they are already coping with difficult trading circumstances.”

While “a vast majority” adhere to social distancing guidelines, Mark Love has seen some problem areas.

“Unfortunately, there is that small minority who don’t adhere to the rules for anything in life so that’s been challenging for the staff but on the whole everyone’s been great,” he said.

“We are noticing more people out and about now in this second phase of lockdown with couples and even families coming in which isn’t ideal. If the lockdown continues this could become a major problem for us and many other retailers as the public’s mentality changes and people become a bit more laid back about it.”