Housekeeping in a Retail Store: Why it Matters (+ 13 Cleaning Tips)

Whose job is it to keep your retail store clean? If you think it’s the cleaner’s job, you’d be wrong! Shop assistants, owners and merchandisers – everyone has a part to play in housekeeping in a retail store.

Because let’s be honest, who wants to shop in a dirty store? Clean and pristine is the way to increase footfall and sales.

Why is Cleanliness Important?

In a 2014 survey, shoppers were asked to rank five factors in order of importance: a positive checkout experience, the ability to give feedback, a clean store, and friendly and knowledgeable store associates.

What do you think came first? That’s right – a clean store. And the best thing is, maintaining cleanliness in a retail store is an easy job, but you need commitment from everyone.

Also, you’ll be:

• Preventing the spread of illness.
• Preventing any accidents from occurring.
• Offering customers the best experience they can hope for.
• Increasing your chance of a positive review.
• Avoiding any legal fines or penalties.

The Impact of Store Cleaning on Customer Satisfaction & Sales

As cleanliness is a significant factor when consumers are purchasing goods, it has a direct impact on sales and customer satisfaction.

Here are three reasons store cleanliness affects sales and customer satisfaction:

1. Cleanliness Creates a Positive Customer Experience

Customer experience is critical when shoppers are buying goods – if you enjoy making your purchase, you’re more likely to come back.

Picture this – you walk into a store, and the basket you pick up is ripped or dirty. You walk around the store and notice loose boxes and packaging, and there are spillages on the floor with no slip hazard signs around them.

As you go to pick something from the top shelf, you get dust on your fingers and have nowhere to wipe it.

Contrastingly, you could walk around a store that’s clean where products are all neatly stacked.

Don’t make excuses either – just because you have a loyal customer base, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to make the customer experience even better.

2. You Need to Meet Industry Standards

If your store doesn’t meet regulations, your store could be shut down or reported in the press – and nobody wants negative PR for their retail business.

You could receive fines if you don’t keep your store clean, too – which is inconvenient and expensive.

Also, customers are aware of what makes an unclean store, and they could report you if they notice anything they don’t like or leave a negative review online.

Here are some useful resources for ensuring you’re up to speed:

• Health & Safety at Work Regulations
• Food Standards Regulations
• Health & Safety in the Retail Industry: Index

3. First Impressions Lead to Sales

First impressions count for everything as the saying goes – and it’s true. If someone walks into your store and your store isn’t clean, you’ll be making a bad one.

Maintaining a positive brand image is the key to making more sales, especially now most stores have some online presence, and customers can leave reviews about their shopping experience.

You can do the best marketing campaign in the world, but if your store is a mess, you’ll put people off instantly.

What we can say is that with more and more shops closing, cleanliness becomes even more critical, as shop owners look to tempt people in from the high-street.

So, now you know why cleanliness is essential, it’s time to show you how to keep your retail store clean:

How to Keep a Retail Store Clean: 13 Tips

1. Pay Special Attention to the Toilets

Toilets are the most crucial part of your store in terms of cleanliness, we all judge people on the cleanliness of their bathroom! However, it’s often the cleaning job that most people get wrong.

We know it’s not the place you want to spend your day unless you’re using it, but a dirty toilet can turn people away instantly – especially where there’s food and drink.

If it isn’t your job, ensure staff are filling out the toilet cleaning checklist, and have a look to check they’re up to your standard.

Remember to check your stocked up – toilets can become unhygienic quickly if there isn’t any toilet paper or hand soap.

2. Repair Any Damage

Whether you can repair the damage depends on its severity. For example, if you have ripped clothes or broken coat hangers lying around the shop floor, it’s quite easy to rectify (although you should ask how this is happening in the first place).

However, if you have a crack in your marble floor or the till surface has a large scratch on it – you’ll have to report it and have someone come and fix it for you.

The bottom line is damage doesn’t look great – it makes people think you aren’t bothered about how your store appears or you’re too lazy to schedule any repairs.

3. Clean the Lighting Fixtures

Again, approach this one with care. If you’ve got 50 patrons in your store and you’re trying to clean an overhead light fitting while standing on a chair – you’re asking for trouble.

Look for dust or dirt on lower reaching or floor lights as you move around the store during the day, and keep an eye out for any dead lightbulbs overhead as well. They could be affecting someone’s vision as they’re looking at a product.

Take care when you clean any bulbs as well as they could be hot.

4. Clean Displays

Your displays are your main point of advertising – they get people in your store and allow you to put a focus on your main products.

If they’re catchy, they’ll attract attention (kids love them!), and attention can often mean dirt, litter or parts of the display moving.

Keep an eye on your display and ensure you maintain it throughout the day.

5. Get the Right Products

If you’re going to clean your store, you need to get the right products. Pungent smells can be overpowering, and any greasy or slippery liquids could cause accidents.

Here are some tips for buying products:

• What’s the dominant material of your store (wood, plastic, metal, marble) and what cleaning agent preserves it.
• Consider eco-friendly cleaning products.
• Work out how many rooms you need to clean.
• Determine a budget for supplies.

6. Remove Clutter

Not only is clutter unclean, it’s also dangerous. If you leave items all over your floor and someone trips and hurts themselves, you could be liable in court.

Ensure that all staff are aware of health and safety procedures and try to stock up your store before and after patrons leave. This is easier said than done, but it’s always better to get off to a good start.

7. Treat Any Stains Right Away

Leaving stains will cause them to bed into the surface of the site – stains can also smell, which is much worse than the visual.

During a busy day it can be challenging to treat stains, but if you explain to customers that there’s a spillage and you’re dealing with it – you won’t dampen their experience.

8. Empty the Bins

There’s nothing worse than bins spilling over onto the floor, whether they’re in your toilets, on the shop floor or behind the tills.

Overflowing bins are worse when you’re working with food and drink, but packaging and other forms of rubbish can leave your store looking untidy.

9. Clean Glass

Glass is so easy to get dirty – people brushing by it, kids putting their hands on it, and general dirt and dust build-up.

Mirrors are often what makes people buy gifts – especially if you work in a clothing store. Do a few rounds a day with your glass spray to ensure your glass is crystal clear.

10. Neaten Furniture

If you have seating or other types of furniture in your store, ensure you keep putting it back into place as people pass through.

While it may seem like a small detail, furniture can get in the way, and it looks messy if you don’t adjust.

11. Clean Units & Shelves

As people take off products from the shelves, they become exposed. If what’s underneath the products is dirty, you could put people off, and they may even put it back.

Schedule a deep clean every few weeks, dismantle the shelves and get into the hard-to-reach areas. Check the material of your shelves and buy a cleaner that’ll give the best results.

Remember, your shelves are the main stage for your products, so they need to be kept clean, so they do your products justice.

12. Pay Attention to the Entrance

First impressions count – and the entrance to your store is where people will decide on whether they’re going to enter.

If it’s dirty, broken and cluttered, you’ll put people off. Keep the entrance bright, clean and maintain everything like signs and floor mats.

While you can’t control the design aesthetics, you can control the cleanliness.

13. Focus on Other Areas of Your Store

Set the bar high by maintaining cleanliness in other areas of your store throughout the day. If the staff room or stock rooms aren’t clean, other areas of the store could suffer as well.

Create cleaning checklists for each room and do spot checks at various points during the day.

Maintain Store Cleanliness: Start Now!

Firstly, remember the advantages of keeping your store clean:

1. Cleanliness Creates a Positive Customer Experience
2. You Need to Meet Industry Standards
3. First Impressions Lead to Sales

And use these handy tips to keep on top of your cleaning:
1. Pay Special Attention to the Toilets
2. Repair Any Damage
3. Clean the Lighting Fixtures
4. Clean Displays
5. Get the Right Products
6. Remove Clutter
7. Treat Any Stains Right Away
8. Empty the Bins
9. Clean Glass
10. Neaten Furniture
11. Clean Units & Shelves
12. Pay Attention to the Entrance
13. Focus on Other Areas of Your Store

View our cleaning range and get your store squeaky clean!