Retailers put safety priorities over sales
Retailers struggling because of the coronavirus outbreak are taking extraordinary steps this holiday season.
NEW YORK » Dan Marshall’s toy store should be crowded this time of the year with parents and grandparents buying gifts and children trying out games. Instead, only a handful of customers are in Mischief Toy Store at any time, and their visits are short and efficient.
Yet while the coronavirus outbreak gave Marshall his most challenging holiday season in over 20 years in business, his priority was keeping everyone — customers and all the workers in his family-run business — safe. So, he encouraged shoppers to buy from the Mischief Toy Store website or order by phone rather than at the St. Paul, Minnesota, shop. He also arranged for virtual shopping trips, where customers can see the store’s merchandise online.
“We are in the weird position of wanting people to shop, but not wanting them to come into the store,” Marshall says.
Retailers were taking extraordinary steps this holiday season in hopes of lessening the spread of the virus. The steps went beyond limiting the number of people in a store; besides encouraging online shopping, many owners are setting up appointments before and after hours for private shopping trips. Owners askedcustomers in their stores to limit the amount of time they spend there. Curbside pickup, delivery and shipping were standard operating procedure.
All this is in addition to state and local restrictions on how many people can be in a store at a time. Some owners, Marshall included, set a limit even where there were no government orders. He’s allowing 10 people in at once, a third of what he’d normally see.
Small and independent retailers have been among the hardest-hit businesses during the pandemic. Not only are they contending with government restrictions, but many consumers worried about catching the virus don’t want to shop in person. The plunge in revenue has forced more than 8,600 stores to close this year, according to Coresight Research, a market research firm that specializes in retailing.
Consumers reluctance was reflected in a 1.1% drop in retail sales in November, according to the Commerce Department.
The changes in stores this year can be dramatic or subtle. In toy stores, usually children can plow through bins of small toys and pick out what they want. There’s a cluster of small items at the checkout counter that parents buy on impulse, extending the shopping trip a bit and adding to the retailer’s bottom line. Not this year; Marshall, whose revenue is likely to be down 30% this year, is emphasizing safety over profits.
“We wanted to expedite that process and keep people moving,” Marshall says. But, he adds, “it’s not how a toy store wants to do business.”
Emily and John Murray went further, deciding last month to close their baby products store and operate entirely online even though Michigan is allowing retailers to remain open.
“We felt it was the right thing to do,” Emily Murray says.
The Murrays expected Modern Natural Baby to suffer a massive revenue drop. Instead, sales have been up 15% from a year go, in part because the Murrays are doing two live videos a day showcasing their merchandise. Almost all their customers are opting for curbside pickup at the store in Ferndale, outside Detroit.
“We were worried about upsetting customers, but the response was overwhelmingly positive,” she says.
Store owners were also helping customers shop more efficiently. At Perch, a gift and home furnishings store in San Francisco, a growing number of customers are taking advantage of private shopping appointments. Owner Zoel Fages is reserving the last two hours of each day for appointments and gives shoppers a questionnaire to fill out ahead of time so he can set aside gift suggestions before they arrive.
At EcoHome Fine Gifts & Home Decor in Atlanta, a sign welcomes customers but also asks them to be considerate because other shoppers would like to enter the store. And they’re paying attention, staying usually 20 to 30 minutes rather than the hour to hour and a-half owner Lawton Hall expects for this time of the year.
“I’m pleasantly surprised at how cooperative people have been,” Hall says. The store was serving about 15 to 20 people at a time, half the usual number.