The pandemic has hit a lot of store owners hard, changing the way they conduct their usual business with their customers. Here’s a few measures your pawn shop can take to ensure you still retain good business during the COVID era.
Offer Hand Sanitizer
Pawn shops often deal with secondhand or previously used items, so it’s wise to offer your customers complimentary drops of hand sanitizer right when they enter and right before they leave the store again. Not only does this minimize possible bacteria from entering your store, but also ensuring your customers remain safe and healthy after perusing through your stock.
Keep Antibacterial Wipes On-Hand
The CDC advises that small businesses should regularly “clean and disinfect all frequently touched surfaces, such as workstations, countertops, handrails, and doorknobs” and to discourage sharing tools and equipment you touch with other employees. This typically means using antibacterial wipes or pure alcohol spray to wipe down your doors, glass cases, and applicable stock that customers have touched throughout the day.
It might be a good idea to keep a notebook nearby to list what items customers touch during their visit so you can wipe them down again after they leave. You should also consider wearing disposable gloves when cleaning so your hands are not constantly smelling of strong cleaners when helping out customers.
Set Up Designated Social Distancing Spots
Unless a small group of customers came together, you should urge your customers to stand the government-sanctioned 6 feet apart. To aid with this, you should redesign your store in a way that allows for enough space for multiple customers to roam around without coming into close contact with one another.
Of course, your shop may not allow for this space. Some other pawn shops have only let in 1 customer into the store at a time, making others line up outside in 6-foot intervals. Of course, if your shop is large enough and has a good ventilation system, then you can allow in a few more customers provided they keep their distance.
Encourage Customers to Pay Digitally
Cash exchanging hands runs the risk of passing on bacteria or other pathogens to and from your customers. You should encourage all your customers to pay with either a credit card, debit card, or set up some other system where you can transfer their money to their bank accounts directly.
If you have a website for your pawn shop, then you should let your customers know about it so they can still shop or ask for pawn loans from your store all from the comfort of their own home!
Check in With Your Employees
Make sure to check in with your employees and their health when they come into work. If they admit to feeling the least bit ill, it is best to send them home for the day until they recover.
You should also encourage them to wash their hands frequently, wear masks, and keep 6 feet apart from customers they help.
