Adapting bakery services in times of COVID-19
EVEN as they scrambled to keep supermarket shelves filled, selling more bread than ever in many instances bakers over the past year have been planning for the future. A future after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rather than add to their product lines, many bakers were forced for parts or much of the past year to reduce stock-keeping units in order to streamline operations, maximise production and keep supermarket shelves filled.
This pressure eased as the year progressed and virtually all bakers in 2020 either introduced new products or planned for significant new product introductions for 2021 or beyond.
Under the current circumstances, consumers’ needs and behaviours are changing rapidly.
This, especially, applies to food demand. The situation requires a different approach to the usual way of doing business.
In this article, you will find a handful of aspects you can take into consideration to continues business while facing COVID-19 and post-pandemic .
Adapt opening hours
Making sure your shop is open, clean and stocked can be a demanding task these days.
To keep your service up and running, consider rearranging your opening hours to allow yourself sufficient time to follow up on hygiene measures, restock and keep your team members healthy as well.
Pick-up and delivery at home Offer your customers the possibility to order and pick-up at their convenience or to have their order delivered at home.
Apart from servicing your customers by being able to order 24/7, online ordering will make it easier for you to manage orders and react to customer demand.
Furthermore, customers do not need to queue. They then show the order number, collect their goods in a timely manner and all payments are managed digitally, which will help in maintaining hygiene measures and social distancing.
Interested in such a service? Note that you can create your webshop for free, no strings attached, with Bakeronline, a technology that allows bakeries to create a personalised webshop where consumers can easily order.
If you start offering home delivery, review and communicate your health and safety measures accordingly.
Keep in touch
While social distancing is diminishing contact, find other ways to connect to your customers. To keep them informed, make sure your company website and Facebook page are updated regularly.
To open up to your customers’ questions and ideas, you may offer communication by using WhatsApp for Business or Facebook live. If you choose to do so, please be aware that messages should be handled adequately.
Of course, you and your staff members know your customers the best.
Team up and start thinking out of the box to generate creative ideas to adapt your services even more and please share with us to update this list.
Communicate, openly and honestly
These are extremely uncertain and - for some even anxious times. You can help your customers by being open and honest in your communication.
More than ever, it is essential to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and try to understand what type of information they are seeking. You can think of: Hygiene and safety measures Availability of products Adapted product range Additional services Changed opening hours Analyse your product range Take a thorough look at your product range, taking into account how your customers’ buying behaviours have changed since the beginning of the outbreak.
Check what changes you can make to meet these needs.
At the same time, you may also want to minimise your usual bread range to stay focused and keep your services up.