No panic buying here
Supermarket to reserve its first hour of opening for elderly and disabled customers to protect them from crowds during the coronavirus crisis.
This week, UK-based supermarket chain Iceland began reserving “priority hours” immediately after opening for those most vulnerable to the coronavirus: the elderly and those with disabilities. The move was driven by many factors: the stores will have just been cleaned; stock levels will be at their highest; and reducing the number of people in the stores will enable vulnerable people to effectively practice social distancing. Exact hours vary by store and will be communicated via window posters. Woolworths in Australia has also implemented a similar dedicated hour for the elderly and disabled.
🤝 LENDING A HAND
Okay, right now it probably shouldn’t be an actual hand. But when it comes to inclusivity, as a TrendWatching reader we know you’ve been thinking about tangible, practical ways to assist vulnerable customers long before anyone had ever heard of the coronavirus. We’ve long been beating the drum for businesses to practice POST-DEMOGRAPHIC EMPOWERMENT, not just in times of crisis but year-round. For example, the NBA opened the world’s first autism-sensitive retail store in April 2018.
🔬GLASSBOX BRANDS. Your business is a GLASS BOX, your brand is everything that’s visible. Every person. Every process. Every value. Everything that happens, ever. This is especially true in times of global (or even regional) crisis. What are you doing for your employees, your customers, and right now, the community at large? Every action, from allowing employees to work from home to paying hourly workers even if hours are reduced, is under a microscope. And when all is said and done, people will remember what your brand did, or more importantly didn’t do, when they needed help.
We know you may be tired of boring news coverage of the coronavirus. So for danceability alone, here’s a hand washing PSA from Vietnam that is a true bop! 💃: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=151&v=V9YirNgAzXI&feature=emb_logo
OUT NOW | After the Virus
