The cleanliness of your retail space can significantly affect your customer experience – both positively and negatively – making it a big factor for customers when deciding whether they shop and spend with you or not. Customers’ shopping behaviours have changed over the years, where now consumers look for retailers that go beyond the product and instead offer the whole shopping experience – providing almost the feel-good factor that we want to get when shopping. Retailers can, of course, use this to their advantage, raising awareness of their brand, building their online experience, and then reflecting this offline too. Also, if customers are happy with their experience in the store, they will most likely recommend you to others as well as become a loyal customer. However, it’s not all about matching your brand online with offline and making your store look the part. Store cleanliness plays a significant role. A study from the US found that 99% of customers said they would not return to a store if it had poor hygiene and levels of cleanliness. Of course, unclean bathrooms and unpleasant smells will also stop customers from returning to your store too! Other off-putting features can include:
- Dirty floors
- Spills
- Stains
- Unclean surfaces
- Dirty mirrors
- Dirty/unclean windows
What’s interesting to note is that all of these factors scored higher in priority than customer service! Over half of those surveyed also went on to state that they would actively avoid a retailer if they looked dirty from the outside.
The Importance of retail cleanliness
What can you do? To maintain a great customer experience, you need to make sure that everything is kept clean!
- Make commercial cleaning a priority – and also make sure to maintain it!
- Realise that you can’t do everything and hiring a professional contract cleaning service (like Clear Choice Leeds) is key – a company that understands your values and your brand objectives.
- Make sure to carry out regular checks at intervals throughout the day to ensure things like washrooms etc. are kept clean.
- Work closely with your industrial cleaning provider to check on any areas of concern or if rotas etc. need to change.
Are you at risk of losing revenue all because of poor hygiene?
Whether you’re a restaurant, café, hotel, shop, convenience store, supermarket, and more – cleanliness and hygiene are vital if you want customers to repeat their purchases with you. To help, employees should all be encouraged to follow a high standard of hygiene practices, and these should be available for all staff to familiarise themselves with. When it comes to your employees, it is also worth considering if they are well kept, they’re presentable, and they have clean hands! You also need to ensure that all public services are clean and tidy and that washrooms are not only clean, but they’re also well-stocked! Research carried out by Initial Washroom Hygiene in the UK found that 82% of people said business must be clean for them to be willing to spend their money there. 79% said staff hygiene was a big factor when considering using a business again. Educating employees on personal hygiene is key. And regularly washing hands and wearing clean clothes is an important part of this. Cleaning and maintaining basic hygiene standards should be a compulsory part of a day to day business.
Benefits of a clean retail unit
- It helps to retain customers, as well as bring in new. Which, in turn, increases revenue.
- Using a professional retail cleaning service guarantees you a high quality clean every time.
- Commercial cleaning companies can also be more reliable than employees, as they have more experience, tools, and equipment. It’s also their job roles, is it really your staff?
- It adds value to your store and boosts your reputation.
Know where to start
When it comes to finding out which areas need the most attention, as well as those areas that will create the best impression on customers, use an expert. Professional cleaning companies, like Clear Choice, have years of experience and knowledge regarding the impact a clean business can make. Creating consistently clean and tidy businesses throughout Leeds for many years. For us, particular areas to pay attention to, include:
- Entranceways
- Windows
- Bathrooms
- Fitting/dressing rooms
- High touch areas
Having a commercial cleaning company ultimately lets you get on with the day job! Can you afford to lose customers due to poor retail cleanliness? Make the right choice, call Clear Choice Leeds on 01132 711432 and see how we can help you. Find Out More Here!
