Good morning, brandon, artisan spokesperson for shop, smart, auto and president of champion strategies giving you the consumer all of the latest information that’s going on in the automotive industry, especially in the retail part, when you’re talking about buying or servicing your vehicle.
And then sometimes we look at what’s going on ever since uh coped hit and how it’s affecting not only is just automotive but retail in general, because many of you still are trying to support other businesses.
So we have a two-part series and when i start with the first part and here’s my question to you, what safe shopping looks like during this pandemic, once again in your mind as a consumer, what safe shopping looks like when you go out well to limit the Spread of covet 19, the united states center for disease control and the prevention of thereafter recommends that interventions, individuals, practice social distancing.
We all know that we’re supposed to be practicing this anytime, we go into retail environments, but when local conditions allow for retail stores to open, they confront a variety of guidelines, depending on the state that they’re in, for example, in north carolina places, have specific limits.
On the number of people allowed in a space by square footage, while in another state like oregon, advises that the number is maxed out at a number and that they need to be standing six feet apart.
So, whether or not customers are required by law to wear masks and store depend on the state how retailers implement these guidelines also varies among many types of retailers and even within store categories example.
Grocery stores have adopted a wide variety of specific methods to ensure the customer remains distanced or apart.
These variations are due to differences in the prevalence of this virus and how devastating it is hot spots, if you will from state to state.
But if we look at retail and if we look at the store layout and the customer flow within that layout, what everyone’s trying to achieve is social distancing as they work their way through the aisles and to the employee at the cash out register.
To make matters.
Even a little bit more difficult, we have a limited understanding of how covert 19 is transmitted, even though we do take these precautions.
Given this uncertainty, as well as the challenges of finding one size, fit all guidelines here at shopsmart autos, we describe three general principles that we’re finding that you, the consumer, tell us that’s going on in retailers.
The first one is less density faster flow; in other words, all experts agree that to lower the risk of the virus transmission, retailers must lower the density of people within the store.
The easiest way to do that is limit the number of people that are in store at one time, so the following equation, known as little’s law that highlights a trade-off between density and sales, providing really a powerful tool to impact and understand what this social distancing is Doing to stores so throughout the store just think of it in customers per hour, the number of customers in the store is divided by the time spent and the store by hours.
Nothing really has changed from even before.
Cobit people also knew how to regulate and predict how someone’s time and interest in the store was there, but one way to increase throughout and sale to increase the number of people in the store we have to maintain social distancing.
So this requires additional floor space.
Therefore, if we have additional floor space being used for the consumers here now is where the problem comes in when we’re talking about restaurants, seating capacity, parking lot capacity or, if you’re, in an area with closed streets, trying to make sure we get this less density faster Flow is kind of still challenging for certain parts of the country so for space concentrated retailers, the law says that the quicker we can get these small numbers and a process through.
We can still keep everybody happy now.
Consumers may challenge some parts of the rules that are there like like the masks, but if you would like to still continue to go to some stores and be a patron like a home depot or like a walmart, they have particular effective processes based on covet.
That has been in place that they would like for you to adhere to to get a value-added customer experience, while you’re in the store now is it still challenging for all of us? Yes, do we still have our freedoms? Yes, do some people fight to wear the masks, yes fight, to stay away from the six feet? Yes, human beings are going to be human beings.
Now i say that because all of this could happen at an automotive dealership, but that’s why we at shopsmart auto always say look for that dealership.
That offers you the ability for virtual selling.
If you don’t want to come in, everything will be done on a secure line and the vehicle can be delivered to you.
If you would like to come in for parts of it, that’s all right, no problem, it’s going to get you in and out quicker because you did most of the legwork online and the same thing still works for the service department.
Don’t feel comfortable coming into the service department.
Well, we’ll come and pick your vehicle up.
Leave your loaner.
Take care of the service work, bring your vehicle back pick up the loaner and you’re still doing your thing so once again, brandon artisan for shop, smart models, just giving you some customer information for today, and if you like something out of it great we’ll be back With another edition later, as always in parting, you go out and make it a champion.