As retail fully opens back up and consumers regain their confidence to head out to the high street, we are entering a new phase of on-premise social distancing and COVID-safe precautions that apply to sweet shops and other candy retailers.
In some ways, confectioners need to be even more careful – for example in outlets where customers are normally allowed to self-serve pick ‘n’ mix, you may want to put measures in place to prevent direct physical contact with product.
Here are some ways to keep a sweet shop COVID-safe as bricks-and-mortar retail returns, as well as taking full advantage of the transition to online retail over the past year, which is likely to remain a feature for the foreseeable future.
Staggered entry and solo shopping
One way to keep people spaced out in your shop is to limit the number of people who are allowed to enter, and to encourage solo shopping wherever possible.
With the summer months approaching, it should be much easier to ask customers to wait outside until you have capacity for them to enter, or for one individual to come inside while the rest of their party waits outside.
Typical COVID-19 precautions such as mask-wearing can be encouraged (and should be mandatory for all non-exempt shoppers at present) and you could even go so far as to test customers’ temperature with a no-contact scanner on entry to your premises, if you want to be even more COVID-secure.
Display cases and physical barriers
A physical barrier is as effective as distance at preventing the spread of disease, so keep products in closed display cases where possible.
For the time being, a return to a traditional counter service sweet shop might be a good solution, where customers ask for a specific weight or number of a particular candy, rather than filling a bag themselves.
Free samples and special offers
If your local market has not yet returned in force, you might want to consider offering discounts, multibuy deals and free samples to incentivise customers to return.
We are starting from a ‘hard reset’ in many ways, so early efforts to attract market share could help you to establish yourself as a stronger local presence for the long term, while generating more sales for minimal outlay in the short term.
Pre-packed pick ‘n’ mix
Bagging up pick ‘n’ mix in advance can reduce physical contact and reduce time spent in-store by shoppers, many of whom will welcome the chance to buy a pre-made sweet selection bag and get back out in the open air faster.
Make sure you have a good selection available at different price points and consider catering for different personal tastes, such as jelly-only selections, fruity or minty flavours, or sugar-free pick ‘n’ mix bags.
Sell sweets online
Finally, you could move some or all of your business over to selling sweets online, to reduce your reliance on bricks-and-mortar trade. This could boost your income temporarily, or as a permanent replacement for a high street shop.
At Kandy King we have been helping confectioners to sell sweets online for many years via social media platforms and standalone websites – see our guide How to Sell Sweets Online for more information.