How Can Non-Essential Shops Prepare to Re-open on April 12th?

On Easter Monday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed to the public that Step 2 of his roadmap will be going ahead as planned.

This means that on April 12th, all of the shops and businesses that fall under the ‘non-essential’ category can re-open to the public.

With that said, there’s no doubt that many of us will be blowing the dust off of our shopping bags and hitting the high street to get our hands on our favourite brands. And as businesses power up their sleeping till systems, stock their shelves and anticipate this inevitable rush, it begs the question; are they fully prepared?

With periods of increased footfall and eager shoppers just on the horizon, it’s important that both non-essential shops and the brands that they stock quickly get their in-store marketing up to scratch and take advantage of this time of increased spending. But how?

Well, Tactical Solutions are here to enlighten you!

Firstly, what shops will be re-opening on April 12th?

According to gov.co.uk, some of the ‘non-essential’ shops that will be opening on April 12th include:

• clothing stores and tailors
• charity and antique shops
• homeware and carpet stores
• electronic goods and mobile phone shops
• florists and plant nurseries
• tobacco and vape stores

To get the full list, click here.

Many of these stores will include those that stock other large brands and thus become a key representative in charge of making sure that these particular products/brands are reaching their target audience through effective and strategic in-store marketing.

And with an unavoidable increase in footfall due to the easing of lockdown restrictions, solid visual merchandising has never been so important for boosting sales, especially for those brands that haven’t been able to benefit from the recent surge in online shopping.

So how can they prepare?

For the weeks that follow April 12th, we can expect a flurry of shoppers on the hunt for not only a normal, high street shopping experience but their favourite brands/products that they haven’t been able to access throughout lockdown.

This exclusivity is something that stores and brands can take advantage of, especially as they get their brick-and-mortar stores ready to engage shoppers with visual marketing and merchandising.

First-hand visual marketing is something that cannot be matched online. It’s direct to the customer and great examples of it can not only provide a memorable representation of your brand and products but also provide an instant reminder of your brand’s existence amongst the shelves and more importantly, amongst your competitors.

Amidst all the excitement of returning to stores, strategically placed FSDU’s, attractive Gondola Ends and other displayed promotional activity will help streamline the shopper’s focus onto a chosen brand and help achieve the sales and attention it deserves – especially after lockdown.

What can Tactical Solutions do?

Here at Tactical Solutions, we use a mixture of dedicated expert teams, in-store visits and bespoke software to implement the best visual marketing solutions for your brand and to also track its progress and rectify any issues that would disrupt product performance.

Using software such as Reapp and Drive, we’ve worked with many of the UK’s favourite brands including Innocent Drinks, Quorn and Kelloggs, and have ensured that their products and overall branding are performing at their fullest potential in-store, especially in times of increased footfall.

So when April 12th comes around, be sure to give Tactical Solutions a call so you can rest assured that your brand is ready to reap the rewards of the busy weeks to come!

Click here to contact a member of our team today.

*Disclaimer* The state of COVID measures mentioned above were correct at the time of writing but may have changed since. To view the current guidelines for your area, click here.