Chapter 4. Daily Operating Policies & Procedures

The daily policies and procedures outlined below suggest the various tasks that are necessary for retailers to get their shop ready for business for the day.

Shop Opening Tasks

To ensure that such activities are always carried out, retailers should set aside some time (30 minutes or more, depending on the individual retailer) for the pre-opening tasks.

Housekeeping

Retailers have to make sure that the following four tasks are checked and carried out before opening the shop.

1. Cleanliness and tidiness of working and customer space

• Entrance to shop

• Selling areas

• Arrange merchandise displays that are untidy. For apparel, price tickets should not be dangling out. For convenience store, ensure products are front-facing.

• Cashier counters

• Backroom (receiving/checking areas and storeroom)

• Display merchandise (shelves and display units)

Clean and tidy store entrance

(courtesy of the Robinsons Group of Stores)

2. Working condition of essential equipment and facilities

• Air-conditioners

• Lighting

• Equipment such as Point-Of-Sale (POS) system, audio set and closed-circuit television, etc.

• Fixtures such as clothes hangers, display shelves and units

3. Replenishment of stock

• Replenish merchandise at the selling floor from the stockroom (this can also be done during business hours).

• Check that there is sufficient stock in the stock room for replenishment later.

4. Completion and organisation of paperwork

There may be some administrative paperwork left undone from the previous day. Staff should do the following:

• Complete unfinished paperwork from the previous day. Examples: filing of exchange forms, stock transfer forms and purchase orders, and update stock information in the POS system if necessary.

• Familiarise themselves with sales promotions.

When staff report for work, they should spend some time to familiarise themselves with the shop’s sales promotions mechanism. The promotions will be successful if staff can use them to encourage customer purchases. To be better salespeople, retailers need to be prepared.

Opening the Point-Of-Sale System

Retailers have adopted different systems for their Point-Of-Sale (POS) units — manual or computerised systems. Each system has different operational methods and it usually comes with an instruction manual supplied by the manufacturer.

For the manual system, there is no back-end procedure. Here is a procedural example of activating a computerised POS unit. Some retailers do not have a back-end office, so the POS system at the front functions as the back-end system as well.

Closing Procedures

Retailers must end the selling day with the following activities.

End-of-Day Housekeeping

• Report any damage of equipment or facilities to the supervisor and record it in the maintenance book/file for the following day’s duty officer to deal with.

• Replenish packing material.

• Ensure that there are sufficient receipt and audit rolls for the cash register and cash memo for the next cashier.

• Clean the cashier counter and sales floor.

Closing of Daily Account

Retailers must set aside time to carry out this procedure. The person responsible for this task is the cashier.

X-read refers to the end-of-shift or sales summary report.

Z-read refers to the end-of-day report, where the whole day’s sale are consolidated.

Z-out (end-of-day) report

(courtesy of Integrated Retail Management Consulting Pte Ltd)

Conclusion

A good beginning and closing facilitate staff’s selling efforts and enhance the customer shopping experience.

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I need help...: How can I Maintain Retail Standards?

Clean and tidy window display

(courtesy of Aussino Group Ltd)

People like familiarity, and that is why customers buy from the same retailer regularly. Although customers know that it is impossible for a retailer to achieve perfection in their operations, they do want consistent good standards in customer service, sales policies, store ambience and general safety from the retail outlet.

Besides making sure that the staff carry out the opening and closing tasks diligently, the manager or the owner of a store can play an active role to ensure that the store maintains its operations standards. Here are some suggestions:

Know What the Customers Want

Before a retailer can embark on maintaining any retail standards, he has to find out which aspects of the policies and procedures facilitate the customers’ shopping experience. What do customers like to see in the shop? Are they happy with the merchandise placement? How do they feel about the payment methods and procedures? Do they feel that the staff are courteous? What type of sales promotions do they prefer?

The retailer can do three things.

1. Get some tips from the standards set up by the established retailers.

2. Develop their own practices that are applicable to their retail format.

3. Think like the customers — if you were a customer, what would you like?

Be Visible

The management team or the owner should walk around the shop floor very frequently. Small retailers should not ignore this by giving the excuse that the shop is too small.

It is not about size but standards.

If possible, conduct the walkabout daily; if not, then at least once a week. Never make this a once-in-a-month practice. Staff tend to only spruce up their acts when they know that the management team is coming. In addition, remember when walking around the store, always think like a customer. Place yourself in the customer’s shoes.

Be Concerned with Details

Housekeeping is frequently carried out in obvious areas such as the window displays, walls and fixtures.

Retailers tend to overlook some areas that they think customers would never notice.

These details, if not carried out consistently, will tarnish the image of the retailer and hinder productivity at the sales floor.

Here are some areas that the retailer can take note of:

• Cashier counter: A messy and dirty cashier counter creates a bad impression.

• Floor condition: Torn carpets can result in accidents.

• Posters: Old posters that are ripped ruin the display window and affect a customer’s perception of the store.

• Shelves and displays: Cobwebs, dust and dead insects on shelves and displays devalue the merchandise.

• Door and window: Fingerprints on the glass door and window are an eyesore.

Have a Checklist

It is common to see that the management visiting the floor does not know what they should look out for, resulting in a walkabout that loses its focus and importance. For a start, here is an example of a simple checklist that retailers can use to prioritise the important tasks and standards that need to be checked and maintained.

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