Safety is the utmost concern within every industry, including the retail industry. Being able to create posted signs to avoid preventable accidents for spills or hazardous waste, or even executing an evacuation plan that is easy to follow in times of distress is crucial. Keeping the safety of both customers and staff safe is essential, but so are the ways in which you work towards that goal as well.
The retail industry is among one of the biggest within the United States. From apparel and shoes, grocery stores, convenience stores, discount and dollar stores, and warehouse clubs, these stores see a ton of foot traffic every day, which is why keeping the people that visit or are clocking in for their shift safe is so important.
Consider some of the best ways that digital signage–a revolutionary piece of technology–can improve safety within the retail industry!
1. Instant Broadcast Messaging
Keep staff and customers safe with digital signage, which can act as an instantaneous messaging board!
Finding ways to send out safety alerts in a hurry can be life-saving. Depending on if there is a fire in the building, or simply warning staff and customers of spills and messes, it’s important to ensure that those within your building are safe to prevent any accidents that could cause physical harm. One of the best ways that digital signage can be life-changing when it comes to safety in the retail industry is how it becomes an instantaneous broadcast messaging system with real-time updates and changes.
Many content management systems (CMS) offer remote management and real-time updates, which can be great for businesses that are looking to keep everyone within their business safe in case of an emergency. To prevent accidents that can be easily avoided, consider uploading wet floor signs, evacuation routes, or even severe weather warnings and where to take shelter to stay safe.
2. System Integrations
Want a better way to alert staff and customers of what is going on in the building? Integrate digital signage with fire alarms and security systems!
One of the best things about digital signage is its ability to integrate with systems or applications that you use every day. Not only can it pair with Microsoft Outlook, Google Docs and Sheets, Canva, and even social media feeds, but it can also be a great way to connect with important systems to keep your staff and customers safe, such as fire alarms and even the security system.
Sending out alerts through digital signage has never been easier with its integration capabilities. By connecting your screen to the fire alarm and security system, it can instantly override the content currently on there and send out alerts for automated emergency messaging. This takes out the extra step of having you as the user go in and post your own emergency message to ensure that everyone gets out safely and quickly.
3. Post Public Health Notices
Keep customers and staff safe with proper precautions and alerts that the CDC recommends through digital signage!
Since 2020, people have been health-conscious not only looking out for themselves, but for others too. Taking proper precautions when it comes to handwashing, wearing a mask, or simply reminders to take care of yourself when you’re feeling sick and not coming to work are great to add to any digital signage screen.
Adding public health notice to digital signage is great to keep everyone informed. The CDC always puts out important health notices, recommendations for how to keep yourself and others safe, and precautions you can take to prevent getting sick, which are great to add to any digital signage screen. IYou can even display capacity limits, hygiene reminders, or sanitation updates to show shoppers that your business remains compliant with proper health codes too.
4. Microlearning For Staff
One of the best ways to get staff to retain information during important training is to split it up into bite-sized pieces!
It can be difficult to pull every staff member aside, or have them come in earlier or stay after for new or updated training courses to ensure that they are informed of proper safety tactics and techniques. Instead of pulling all of your staff aside and having a day where they can learn new safety tricks, how to use a new piece of equipment, or even the proper way to lift heavy objects, consider microlearning as a great tactic of learning new information quickly and more efficiently.
Microlearning is the breakdown of typical training courses and making them into bite-sized pieces that are more easily digestible without losing your attention span. By breaking up courses into ten-to-fifteen minute sessions, it can help to better retain information and boost memory, increase course completion rates, and it can be done at any time and fit busy retail schedules. Giving your staff the ability to learn useful safety techniques and compliances on their own time and convenience can be a better way to keep staff informed, show better recall from frequent reviews, and help essential information stick in your brain more.
5. Live Metrics for Incidents
Seeing how many days staff can get since an incident is a great way to get them to follow better safety goals and drive visibility!
There is nothing more encouraging than seeing a “days without incident” posting and seeing how many days a business can go. Not only is this a great way for staff to stay on top of the crucial safety tips to prevent themselves or someone else from getting hurt, but it helps to spread visibility throughout the workplace and boosts engagement by showing staff have been retaining the information provided by their training sessions.
Keeping safety goals visible and active is the best way to go about spreading awareness throughout the business. It helps to give employees a constant reminder to stay focused and cautious while following safety rules and it helps to make it more team motivated, which can help to bring everyone together. These posters continue to keep teams engaged, encourage vigilance, and help to demonstrate safety commitment to prioritize worker well-being, and digital signage makes it an easier, more visible way to keep up the good work!
6. Event Management For Large Promotions or Sales
A great way to keep both staff and customers safe is by making digital signage a retail hub for event management for large sale days!
There are many times of the year where retail businesses see more business than usual. This could be anything from Black Friday, the holiday season, Memorial and Labor Day sales, and even for other popular holidays like Easter and Valentine’s Day. The retail industry often sees more foot traffic with people rushing around to find what they need, and sometimes things can turn chaotic without the proper management.
Digital signage is a centralized hub that is perfect for retail as it can be a way to organize and plan for upcoming promotions when there are more customers that are expected to come to drive sales. From using digital signage to guide large crowds during major sales to prevent crushing hazards, to breaking down aisles and departments down on a map to help guide customers to what they’re looking for, it can help to prevent mass build-ups of people to keep everything flowing to prevent traffic jams and keep staff moving as well. It’s also great to prevent any congestion in case an emergency arrives so paramedics can get to someone quickly.
4. Dress Codes
Most retail businesses have staff wear and follow their dress code, but it can also be for their safety too!
Dress codes are in place not only for the retail business, but also to keep staff safe with proper footwear and contamination control.
There are many ways to keep your retail staff safe, and sometimes all it comes down to is the dress code. For many retail businesses, sometimes staff can find it ridiculous to have a full outfit that they need to have ready to go everyday, or even wearing ridiculous shoes that prevent them from slipping instead of something more fashionable. While this can be a pain for some people, for the business itself it’s a great way to keep employees safe and prevent workplace accidents.
Many accidents can occur from not wearing the proper uniform but are easily preventable too. Wearing close-toed slip-resistent shoes can be a great way to prevent slip and falls that sandals or high heels cannot guarantee. Even wearing particular kinds of restrictive jewelry, like rings, bracelets, or long necklaces, can limit bacterial spreading and keep work areas sanitary for both staff and employees.
Shift Can Help Control the Safety Measures in Your Retail Business (and More!)
Shift is a content management system (CMS) that can help with the creation of easy content to ensure the safety of all of your staff!
It can be difficult to make the best digital signage content without the right CMS platform to pair along with it. Content management systems are responsible for the creation of anything from employee spotlights, safety reminders, and everyday company news with other capabilities that make displaying it on digital signage easier than any other communication method you’ve tried before.
What is Shift?
When trying to find the best CMS platform to pair with your digital signage, there’s no doubt that Shift is the best possible answer. Shift’s main goal is to help bring your staff closer to one another and form an unstoppable team who is passionate about their job and the work they do.
Shift can create any type of content you’re thinking about, plus it has a unique tool called the Content Navigator that can allow for remote management and real-time updates to alert your staff of any essential information needed ASAP. With the Content Navigator, every screen becomes a useful tool to send out crucial information to staff, and it works especially great for safety alerts in the retail industry.
Features Shift Offers to Increase Safety and More for the Retail Industry
Shift has never made content creation so easy where there are a bunch of different types to make, plus the CMS platform has tons of features to utilize. Here are some of the best forms of content to create to take advantage of everything that Shift has to offer:
- Boost employee engagement through recognition and appreciation
- Celebrate staff birthdays, work anniversaries, and other achievements
- Show training videos
- Employee spotlights
- Interactive polls for staff to anonymously complete
- Expands internal communications
- Allows staff to retrain and re-skill in key trainings
- Helps leaders learn more about staff
- Encourages employees to do work harder
- Increases productivity
- Create diverse content using pictures, videos, or documents
- Use as a wayfinding and navigation system
- Broadcast company announcements, updated policies, etc.
- Use to post emergency alerts
- Streamline workflow and post frequent updates about each day’s tasks
Use Shift’s Unique Features to Keep Both Staff and Customers Safe in the Retail Industry
Shift can be a lifesaver when it comes to keeping retail staff safe. Not only can it send out emergency alerts and pair with security and fire alarms for top notch safety, but it can also be a centralized hub to continue to keep staff in the loop about important updates, news, or policies within the company.
Consider adding Shift to your digital signage screen and watch not only workplace safety, but your team grow as well in the retail industry!
