The holiday season is soon starting, and many businesses are preparing for increased customer traffic. With the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, lots of businesses were forced to close, and have slowly re-opened in many states. While retail sales have decreased during this period, the upcoming holidays present an opportunity for businesses to pick up sales from all the holiday shopping.

For many businesses, the summer is a great time to polish up the appearance of their stores. As a business owner, it is good practice to make some changes to the appearance of your store, especially when you expect lots of customer traffic like in the holidays.

Painting Raises the Curb Appeal of Your Business

Giving your store a fresh coat of paint can make it look more attractive to customers and increase the chances that they will return to shop. A good curb appeal for your retail building goes a long way in promoting your store as a thriving business and can increase sales, especially during peak shopping seasons.

While many businesses were able to refresh their appearance by painting their stores during the summer, some have not been able to, especially because of the unpredictability with COVID-19 changes. If you have not yet painted your retail building, it should not be cause for worry, as you can still paint even during the holidays.

However, it will require that you remain aware of the presence of your customers and maintain their safety as they go about shopping; and there is where a commercial painting contractor can help.

Maintaining Safety and Promoting Efficiency as You Paint Your Store

Although it might be challenging to paint your store while simultaneously providing services to customers, you should not only plan to make this process efficient, but also keep both your customers and staff safe.

The goal is to minimize disruptions to your customers’ shopping experience such that they can freely access products. Maintaining safety also protects you from being liable for any safety-related accidents that customers may encounter.

Here are some important tips to keep in mind as you paint your store during the holidays.

Use Notices to Communicate to Customers

It is important to inform your customers in advance of starting the painting process such that they have time to plan their shopping accordingly. You could put up these notices a few weeks before work starts to allow them sufficient time to make decisions about their shopping plans.

For example, some customers might be uncomfortable coming in to shop as you paint and would prefer shopping much earlier for any products they might need. Giving your customers advance notice also makes them feel valued, as it communicates concern for their safety. These notices should also be placed in visible or high traffic areas such as the checkout counters, bathrooms, or the store entrance.

Schedule Painting Work to Off-Peak Hours

It is also wise to plan the painting work outside of peak customer shopping hours to minimize disruptions to customer shopping. Depending on your store’s hours, you could plan to paint either early in the morning before opening the store or later in the evening after closing.

Alternatively, you could plan to paint during hours of very low customer traffic. Painting outside of peak hours also allows painters to focus on doing their work without worrying about customer safety. It also maximizes efficiency since the painters can paint faster over larger areas.

Be Available to Assist Customers

If painting work is done while customers are shopping, it is a good idea to have one of the store staff available to assist customers with their needs. Some customers might need to reach items that are located within an area blocked off for painting and having someone available to assist them make improve their shopping experience. This also maintains customer satisfaction and prevents you from losing sales because of dissatisfied customers.

Section Off the Designated Area You Are Painting

You should also try to block off the areas you are painting in the store such that customers are do not wander off into a potentially unsafe area. This will promote their safety by keeping them away from materials such as wet paint, dust, and debris.

It also prevents possible injury because of ladders falling on customers or customers accidentally slipping on a slippery tap or wet paint. You should also put signs to notify customers of wet paint and prevent them from crossing into these blocked-off areas.

Store Your Tools Away from Customers

You should also ensure that once painting work is completed in an area, all the materials used are safely stored away from customers. It is good practice to double-check that any tools and equipment that might create slipping accidents are safely stored away from customers.

This might include paint buckets, tarps, or even paint brushes. You should also ensure that the area blocked off for paining is never left unattended while painting work is still in progress.

If you can find ways to minimally disrupt the customer shopping experience while also maintaining safety, a painting project will be a good boost for your business. By allowing customers to keep shopping and reducing any inconveniences, you can maintain your sales while keeping your customers happy.

Commercial Painting Services

However, if any of these options seem like a hassle, you should consider hiring a professional painting company to minimize any disruptions to your customers.

A commercial painting contractor can ensure that your painting project is completed in a timely and efficient manner, allowing you to focus your attention on serving your customers. Experienced commercial painters can also minimize any liability associated with performing paint work as your customers go about their shopping.

Shepard Contractors is a commercial painting contractor in Tampa FL with over 60 years of experience in commercial painting. With a focus on quality and reputation for excellence, these commercial painters can consult with you on how to best proceed with your painting project, considering choice of colors, working schedules and many more.

Their team also specializes in commercial and industrial painting, and specialty coating. As commercial interior painters, they a deep understanding of properties and the characteristics of paint and wall coverings, as well as the application of various finishes to multiple substrates.

Although painting projects can seem challenging, Shepard Contractors works with the latest equipment and techniques to ensure excellence. As a business owner, you can remain confident that this team can handle even the most challenging of work environments. For more information about their services and to schedule a consultation, you can call (813) 400-2081.