Queuing up to buy flooring!
Website Editor • July 19, 2020
Retailers bounce back
“For the first time ever I can say customers have literally been queuing up to get in the store!” says Steve Cox of Heritage Flooring in Leigh-on-Sea.
“I think the levels of business are back to normal, if not slightly better than that.
“We had a lively start to trading in the first week which tailed off a little in the following weeks but it’s pretty busy and there seems to be a good atmosphere among our customers, he added.
Laura Bellamy at Brookside Carpets in Market Harborough has been operating an appointment-only policy for customers. “It has been brilliant for us. People are keen to make appointments and then we can give them our undivided attention. It creates a stronger relationship and a better chance to get a sale that really matches what they need. I think it’s the way forward for us.
In a survey of retailers The Stocklists carried out in June, 69% believed there was pent-up demand waiting for re-opening and this appears to have been borne out in the first weeks of post-lockdown.
“Consumers are enthusiastic,” says Ashley Horne of Wall Bros in Sussex. “They’ve found it hard to spend money during lockdown and now we’re getting good quality sales right across the board. We’re very pleased with the response.”
“After that, we hold on tight and see how it goes,” said David, echoing the sentiment we hear often from retailers – that the next month or so should be strong but additional uncertainly lies in wait in the run up to Christmas in the form of worries about recession, redundancies and any second wave of coronavirus.
In our survey, 77% of our respondents said a recession and the associated unemployment was the greatest threat to business in Q4 and overall only 27% believed monthly sales figures would return to pre-lockdown levels this year.
Richard Moore, Executive Director of the ACG buying group, says: “We’ve found our members are very buoyant and our Facebook community are happy and very busy.
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