Suppose my wife, Irene, is one of your regular customers. You see, Irene, who is an elementary school teacher, got a memo from her principal last Monday: Because of swine flu concerns, Irene is to lay bare all classroom counter and desk surfaces at the end of each school day so the custodians can disinfect them.Now imagine Irene makes a stop right after school to do some shopping with you. As she walks over to get her cart, she sees a customer sneeze onto the handle of the one Irene was aiming for. Irene selects another cart, but then starts thinking, "I have no idea if anybody sneezed on this one."
Your shoppers, like Irene, are worried about swine flu. Yesterday, Vice President Biden warned people against flying on airplanes or even using the subway. His office later revised that to say, "If you feel ill, stay home." That means they stay away from your store.
Protect your customers. Don't take away their shopping carts, for goodness sakes. Ever since Sylvan Nathan Goldman received his patent for the shopping cart on March 15, 1938, conventional wisdom is that you boost sales whenever you get a shopping cart into the hands of a customer. But how about putting a disinfectant wipe dispenser right by the carts?
- In ads and displays, tell your customers you're protecting them. Use a message like, "We want you to stay healthy. Our complimentary wipe kills 99.9% of germs on shopping cart surfaces." You're saying, "We care about you," and your saying that earns you a lot.
- Include a waste basket for used wipes, and be sure the waste basket is emptied frequently.
- Have a display nearby where shoppers can buy packages of disinfectant wipes from you to take home.
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