After eight weeks of closure, all stores (except in certain large shopping centers, notably in Ile-de-France) will reopen their doors from this Monday. And almost everywhere, signs have adopted the same rule: their salespeople and cashiers will all wear a mask (sometimes lined with a visor) while the "contact points" between customers and employees (such as cashiers) will often be equipped of plexiglass. Some of the employees will also have gloves, especially those handling packages or change. But that's not all: the customers themselves will have rules to follow. We will explain everything to you.
Do I have to wear a mask?
Wearing a mask is recommended everywhere. "The customers of themselves will wear one without having to ask them," thinks Benoit Jaubert, chief operating officer of the Fnac Darty group. Other brands go further and prefer to make it compulsory. This is the case with Decathlon, which asks its customers to "come to the store equipped with a protective mask", but also the multimedia brand and the Boulanger appliance. “We will be tolerant the first few days because not everyone may have been able to get one. We can also give some to the beginning. But the rule is a mask for everyone, ”confirms Grégoire Rousseau, the operational director.
The toy stores PicwicToys and King Jouet also impose it on parents and children (over 11 years old for the first, and from 8 years old for the second). "We will refuse customers who do not wear them," said Philippe Gueydon, CEO of King Jouet. It may be anti-commercial but I assume it. If everyone wears it, the risks are much less. "
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Can I come accompanied?
"If you are planning a shopping session with your friends, you may not be able to enter all of the store at the same time, it will be one or two at a time," replies Philippe Thirache, general manager of the clothing brand. and Gémo shoes. As today for food businesses, flow management will be ensured in the event of large crowds. "A floor marking will be placed at the entrance of the store and the number of possible customers on the sales area will be indicated at the entrance," say the Eram shoe stores.
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At all points of sale, it will be a minimum of 4 m2 per person. A ratio that does not pose (too many) problems for larger areas. “It's 50 to 60 people per hour. As our stores are large, this rule will be respected. This will not change anything in our attendance, "said Vincent Dosne, chief operating officer of But.
For department stores, the main concern is rather to avoid "too much concentration at a specific place in the store," says the Boulanger operational director who will thus offer the possibility of making an appointment with a seller (c 'was already the case before) or with the after-sales service to avoid crowds linked to the wait. Many brands have also set up a traffic plan and floor markings at the height of the cash desks and reception points to enforce the distance of one meter.
Can we touch and try the items?
All the stores have obviously developed a series of procedures to regularly clean and disinfect the places where there will be the most contact. Action however invites "its customers to touch only the goods they wish to buy". Same recommendation at Picwictoys who also decided to close the areas where children could have fun (just like King Jouet).
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The other brands call for common sense. “We ask them to be reasonable. But it is difficult to prevent customers from touching, ”specifies Benoit Jaubert de Fnac-Darty, who plans to regularly clean the products left on display. "From the moment they are offered gel, we also consider that the hands are clean," adds the CEO of King Jouet. Almost all stores will distribute hydroalcoholic gel at the entrance, at the cash desks and on the shelves. Action will also give gloves to those who wish. At But, for customers who want to try bedding, "a disposable mattress protector will be available to them," says Vincent Dosne.
And can we also try on the clothes? Decathlon has decided to close its fitting rooms, just like Gémo. "It is above all direct contact with the skin that we want to avoid," explains Philippe Thirache, while disposable knee-highs - as at Eram - will be made available to customers to try on the shoes.
On the other hand, Etam, a clothing and lingerie brand, intends to leave its cabins open. “They will be cleaned after each pass. If there are too many people, the store can decide to close them, ”specifies Patricia Tranvouëz, the general manager of the brand. And what happens to the products tried and not bought? "They will be put in bins for 24 hours then steamed before putting them back on the shelf," she explains.
How to recover products other than by going to the store?
For those who are reluctant to enter a store, in addition to the possibility of delivery, contactless "drive" services (at the entrance to the point of sale or in the parking lot) will also develop from 11 May. Signs such as Fnac-Darty, Boulanger, PicWicToys and KingJouet which had adopted this device during confinement, maintain it after May 11.
"It is a real success with customers who deem it very secure," said Grégoire Rousseau of Boulanger. Others - like Gémo or Sephora - will deploy it. "The service will be operational in all of our stores by the end of May," says Gémo.
Etam stores have also devised devices for direct sales via Skype or WhatsApp or even for home sales called "the basket at home". "If, for example, you want to buy a swimsuit, you can call the store so that a basket of ten items can be dropped off at your home, which you can calmly try on and which will be picked up three days later," announces the director general who recalls that “this crisis forces everyone to be agile and to innovate. "
