For many businesses, the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown were a period of adaptation.

It is too early to assess the damage, but we already know that many businesses are currently struggling to survive and that many others have had to adjust their offering - for example by switching to an e-commerce model.

In this article, we explain which measures should be implemented in the coming weeks and how to restart your business successfully - especially if you have a physical shop that is about to reopen.

1 - Prepare your shops to respect social distancing

Before you start selling, you need to think about the safety of your teams and your customers. The health of your customers and employees must be your top priority.

Here are some basic steps:

• Limit the number of people in your shop at any one time. If possible, ask one of your employees to manage the flow of people entering the shop.
• Equip your staff with hand sanitiser, gloves and masks. If you can, make them available to your customers too.
• Apply floor markings to encourage social distancing - especially at the checkout, where people often spend more time.
• If possible, use a protective screen to protect the cashier.
• Encourage your customers to pay contactless and limit the use of cash.
• No more handshakes or kisses on the cheek, even with your most loyal customers!
• Disinfect as much as possible.

2 - Update your shop information

Make sure all the information about your shops reopening is up to date.

Today, most consumers look for information online before going to a shop. That's why it is important that your information is up to date on your website, on social media and on Google.

So update all the relevant information on Google My Business and on all your platforms. Here is the main information to update:

• Your opening hours.
• Your contact details (phone, email, etc.).
• Your shop address.
• A note reminding customers of the measures in place in your shops to respect social distancing.

3 – Announce that your shops are reopening:

Now let your customers know that your shop is about to reopen.

It is up to you to remind them that you exist and let them know you are reopening. To do so, use all the usual communication channels:

• Send newsletters.
• Share your reopening on social media.
• If possible and your budget allows, send postcards or SMS.

4 - Run win-back campaigns with vouchers

To go even further and encourage your customers and prospects to visit your shops, run a special end-of-lockdown marketing campaign.

To encourage your customers to buy (or to visit your shop in this case), nothing is more effective than a promotion with vouchers.

They are also particularly well suited to a simple newsletter campaign. They are very easy to implement, costs are low and the conversion rate is generally very good.

To give you an idea: in a survey conducted by Sparrow Mailing on vouchers, 20% of respondents said they subscribed to newsletters to receive discounts and special offers.

Better still, 41% of respondents said they had bought products advertised in a newsletter in the last three months!

So you can see that using vouchers can be very effective. You can simply offer a discount of X% on your products, or a buy-one-get-one-free offer.

Otherwise, there are two possible strategies, depending on your goals and existing customer relationships:

• offer vouchers that are valid only in store, to encourage customers to visit your shop.
• offer vouchers that are also valid online - assuming your main goal is to get customers' attention, even if they don't come to the shop later.

5 - Find a solution for customers who don't want to come to the shop

Although your shop has reopened, please keep providing online services.

Not all customers want to come back to your shop and be in contact with too many people. Not to mention that the number of customers in the shop must be limited at all times.

It is therefore important to keep giving your customers a way to communicate with you and buy from home.

This is not a problem for some businesses because they are already used to offering online services. Others will sometimes have to fight on two fronts and continue (or start):

• Being active on social media,
• Maintaining a website,
• Sending newsletters regularly.

And if you have not yet used the end of lockdown to kick off your company's digital transformation, now is the time to start.

E-commerce has become essential for most retailers and will become even more so in the future. What's more, it is far from certain that this will be the last lockdown of our lives - so make sure you are ready for next time!