Many industries have their own set of unique requirements when it comes to choosing the right matting and the retail industry is no exception. These are often very busy environments with a high footfall.
Shops need to look good, in order to create a good impression on their visitors, and they need to keep their staff comfortable and therefore more productive.
Shops and stores also need to ensure they're not flouting any regulations when it comes to selecting the right matting, which many stores will be doing, albeit unknowingly. Our guide below reveals all.
Entrances:
After the shop window, this is the first thing the customer will see when entering the store. How inviting your shop or store entrance looks will have a big say on whether a potential customer walks through the door, or turns around and heads to one of your competitors instead. It's all about creating the right first impression.
91% of shoppers select a store to shop in based on its appearance. (source: Progressive Grocer)
A good looking entrance mat, or entrance mat system, which keeps your floors clean from mud and water, is a requisite. You can read more about the best entrance mats to buy in one of our blogs here.
Go one better and have a great looking logo mat. A mat bearing your stores brand, with the words 'Welcome to' above it, will let customers know that you're proud of your identity and also your store's appearance. This will make your customers feel they're shopping in a store that oozes class.
An attractive logo mat can add a touch of class to a retail environment
Keep on the right side of regulations
Retailers should familiarise themselves with both the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA 2005) and part M of the Building Regulations when it comes to the furnishing, designing and building of their shop or store. It is unlawful for service providers to treat a disabled customer or service user less favourably.
The furnishing of a store includes the mats which are put in place in and around the store. All mats must allow easy wheelchair passage and also ease of means of escape. Try to avoid coir (coconut matting), deep pile or excessively grooved surfaces. Highly patterned mats can be visually confusing to certain individuals too.
Areas at risk of spillages and slip hazards
Spillage risks will depend on the type of store and the products or service which are on offer, but some examples of such areas at risk are as follows:
- Where liquids can be knocked off the shelves:
- Drinks, chemicals, grease, oils
- Where unpackaged goods can fall to the floor
- Fruit & Veg, Confectionary, Flowers
- Meat & Dairy Produce areas
- Point of Sale displays
- Vending machine areas
- Catering / food service areas
The strategic placement of matting to soak up and contain spillages and mats that provide good traction is advisable. Slip and fall accidents cost retailers millions of pounds each year from litigation claims and injuries to their own staff, leading to sickness and absenteeism. Don't take the risk and be proactive. Anything which can stop spillages and slips occurring, should be considered good business.
Many slips can occur because of what's been brought in from the outside. All stores should have adequate entrance matting that removes mud and water from the traffic which passes over it, in order to minimise the potential for slippages further in and around the store. The mats need to remove and store the dirt and water until it can be cleaned off at a later time. Inclement weather increases the amount of dirt and water being brought through an entrance substantially, so retailers need to ensure the entrance mats are of good enough quality to cope.
Good entrance matting will also help to reduce cleaning costs too.
Cashier desks and customer services desks
In areas where staff have to stand or walk around in the same place all day, the placement of Anti-Fatigue mats can be of great benefit. These mats alleviate stress on the body of those who stand on them, by encouraging subtle movement of the joints which helps blood circulate around the body.
Use a single, fixed sized Anti Fatigue mat for areas where people are standing. For larger or irregular shaped areas, use a larger runner or Anti Fatigue mat tiles.
The use of Anti Fatigue mats has been shown to reduce employee fatigue by as much as 50%, in comparison to working on a hard floor.
Warehousing and storage
There will be many areas where workers have to work in the same area on cold, hard floors all day. Anti Fatigue mats will reap the same benefits as explained in the point above. Storage areas are liable to spillage and so the placement of non slip and cushioned mats, to help prevent breakages, will be of benefit too.
Forklift trucks, which have to transport goods from outside to inside the warehouse, also bring in a lot of dirt and water into the warehouse too. Matting designed to cope with the weight of forklifts and remove the dirt and water off forklift truck tyres is discussed in our article here.
Mats to cope with heavy trollies
In retail environments where shopping trollies are used, the matting will be required to cope with the weight of a trolley filled with goods, but the matting also needs to be safe and easy for the trolley to travel over.
It is important that the mats you choose will not move around, which can be a problem with lightweight, vinyl backed mats.
The mats need to be durable enough to cope with the many wheels and the weight travelling over them, so they should not be liable to split at the edges or crush down.
The edges should be bevelled, which will allow the wheels to safely and smoothly travel onto, over and off the other side of the mat.
The best mats to choose for where shopping trollies are used will have a thick rubber base, which is durable, has good weight to it and will not be liable to slip on tiled floors, which many shops with trollies will tend to have.
Need more advice?
At Mats4U we have been supplying matting to shops, stores, retail businesses and individuals throughout the UK for over 20 years. We have mats which are specifically designed to cope with the demands of the retail environment.
We have a handy mat placement guide for shops and stores which can be found on the Mats4U website here.
Our aim is to ensure that you have the right mats for your individual needs. If you want more advice on choosing the correct matting for your particular situation then you can call our customer services team on 0121 313 6748 will be more than happy to help.
