845-656-7748The need for food and household products will never change.
According to Statista, U.S. Supermarket sales exceed $700 billion annually, and the average American household makes nearly 2 trips to the grocery store. If you’re the owner or manager of a grocery store, how can you ensure that your store continues to attract repeat customers shopping for their household needs?
Perhaps the single most important way to satisfy grocery store shoppers is by creating a clean and orderly environment for them to shop, and the easiest way to do this is with a commercial grocery store cleaning company. Now more than ever, a sanitized space, particularly when it comes to food is a non-negotiable. In addition to the human foot traffic within a grocery store, there are also considerable amounts of hand and surface contact when handling items such as food, drinks, and other household products.
Recent studies also show that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way people are shopping. Trips to the store are now more purposeful, planned, and efficient to avoid excessive contact with large crowds.
Bottom line, these trips must provide a positive shopping experience every single time.
Grocery stores are expected to provide an environment that is both safe and pleasant for their customers. It’s never been more important to exceed customer expectations with sparkling surfaces, shiny floors, safety protocols, and organized merchandise. Failure to do so may alienate customers, causing them to do their shopping elsewhere.
Top tips for keeping your grocery store clean
Here are some key tips for ensuring your grocery store is kept clean, sanitary, and safe for shoppers.
1. Focus on floors
At one time or another, we’ve all heard over the supermarket loudspeaker, “Cleanup in Aisle 5!” Spills can and will happen in your store.
As a result, it is top priority to maintain floors that are meticulously cleaned and cared for. Floors should be regularly mopped, swept and vacuumed to ensure a safe and attractive grocery store appearance. Well maintained floors are not only more appealing to customers, but will ensure their safety while shopping.
High traffic will impact the vitality of your floors, so it’s important to rely on a commercial floor cleaning company to give your floors the extra attention they will need.
2. Make sanitizing and disinfecting a priority
Grocery stores are not only home to high traffic areas, but are also spaces for extensive food preparation and handling. From the meat and deli counters to the bakery department, a comprehensive sanitization program is essential to the vitality and safety of your grocery store.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 1 in 6 Americans will contract a foodborne illness, which makes deep cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting critical.
Particularly in the wake of COVID, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recommended disinfectants should be used on the following as often as is practical:
- Shopping carts, shopping baskets and power scooters,
- Self-checkout lines, counters, cafe areas (tables, chairs, etc.)
- All self-service surfaces, including: buffet/salad bar lines, shakers, bottles, condiment stations, etc.
- Restroom surfaces, including: doorknobs, faucets, handles, etc.
- Avoid wiping surfaces with water only; use a disinfectant.
- Utensils in self-service areas should be changed as often as possible
3. Keep glass doors and windows spotless.
From the doors and windows that greet shoppers at the front of your store to the freezer and refrigerated food display cases, glass surfaces should be well maintained, shiny, and disinfected regularly throughout the day.
Special attention should also be paid to door handles, and both the inside and outside of glass doors and windows.
4. Dispose of trash regularly
In an effort to keep supermarkets clean and hygienic, trash cans and bins should be monitored and emptied frequently to avoid unpleasant odors that may attract bugs, rodents, and other pests.
No matter how clean your store is, it has to smell good too!
5. Pay attention to restrooms.
Clean and well maintained restrooms should be top priority on your daily grocery store cleaning schedule. Consistent disinfection and sanitization will help combat the spread of germs and contaminants, and avoid unpleasant odors.
While bathrooms should be cleaned multiple times a day, work with a commercial cleaning company that can provide professional deep cleaning services periodically.
6. Don’t forget about the carts and baskets.
Nearly every shopper that comes into your grocery store will use a cart or basket to hold their items. Your team should be regularly cleaning and disinfecting them, throwing out items like food, trash, and paper left behind.
It’s also customary now to provide hand wipes at your store entrance so that shoppers can disinfect their own carts or baskets before shopping.
7. Rely on the professionals.
As an owner or manager, it’s likely you have limited time throughout the day to closely monitor and maintain every aspect of cleanliness in your grocery store.
The great news is that you don’t have to do it on your own!
Enlist the help of an experienced, reliable, and trusted commercial cleaning service to care for your grocery store. A professional team of experts can provide the efficient and expert services needed to ensure your store is well maintained and safe for your customers.
We’re grocery store cleaning experts!
With decades of experience cleaning grocery stores both large and small, count on American Building Services (ABS) to provide exceptional and reliable janitorial services. Countless grocery store retailers in the Tri State area have relied on our highly trained, diligent, and focused staff of maintenance professionals to provide the highest level of cleaning services and unmatched results.
From COVID-19 disinfection to our superior commercial floor care services, there’s not a spot or surface in your grocery store that we can’t masterfully clean.
Our mission is one of commitment to your excellence and image, and our commercial grocery store cleaning services will ensure that yours shines from the inside out!
Contact us here so that we can discuss your professional grocery cleaning needs and to schedule your next cleaning appointment today.