In our series of interviews with independent schoolwear retailers on the reopening of their stores, Natalie Poulakas, head of retail at Stevensons School Uniform Outfitters, shares her experience.

 

Laura Turner: Did you manage to trade online during lockdown?

Natalie Poulakas: Yes, virtually all of the 550+ schools we work with have an online shop. Customers were able to order throughout lockdown. However, the physical task of pulling together orders with less warehouse staff alongside a lengthier than normal third-party delivery process, meant that things took a little longer than normal. Whilst orders were well down on the year while the government decided how to try and get some pupils back to school, the customer satisfaction rating of online buyers on our award-winning website remained high.

LT: What measures did Stevensons put in place before reopening its stores?

NP: Oh gosh, so many things happened in the background while preparing to reopen. At a store level, like many others, we’ve introduced hand sanitising stations, floor markings to aid social distancing, carried out risk assessments and sourced PPE for our staff. Buying uniform for the first time to attend a new school can be confusing. We wanted to make this process as easy as possible. So, we did detailed planning, looking closely at the number of new starters we needed to be able to invite into our stores this year. This enabled us to provide the option of an in-store fitting. The initial opening of our 16 high street stores has been as a ‘by appointment only’ fitting service. However, we expect to allow walk-in customers into stores later in the summer.

 

 

LT: How were Stevensons’ first weeks back trading?

NP: So far so good. The store teams have been great and really got on board with all our new processes; keeping the shops super safe for our customers. We’ve welcomed around 3,000 appointment customers through our doors since reopening just a couple of weeks ago. We did this by hugely extending opening hours. We normally offer 2,500 appointments across the whole summer period, so this is a big step up. Many of those visiting us for an in-store fitting are commenting on how relaxed the experience is. Also, how well organised the branches are.

LT: How are you finding the practice of social distancing in-store?

NP: Our shop floors have been laid out in a way to aid social distancing this summer. Floor signage is in place and we have individual fitting areas for all customers. We are also limiting the number of people entering at any one time. This has made things a lot easier for us. I won’t lie, it’s a bit trickier back of house. However, all our staff have PPE for any instance where social distancing isn’t possible.

 

 

LT: How have you been promoting the reopening of Stevensons’ stores?

NP: Our fab marketing team have been creating materials to send directly to schools to communicate with parents. They’ve also produced lots of signage for use in windows and in-store. This ensures our guidelines are as clear and understandable as possible for when customers visit. Plus, we’ve used school specific ‘pop-up’ technology on our website to deliver information about recommended appointment weeks as well as how to book in-store fittings online. Combined with social media posts, targeted emails, information flyers, and keeping the website updated, we’ve used every available channel we can. Our account management team has also been very active; liaising with schools to agree appointment arrangements, as well as updates on stock arrival and availability. And our customer service teams around the country are now back at work to help and advise customers, Monday to Saturday, by email, phone and webchat.

LT: What are your thoughts on Back to School?

NP: I’m really excited to see how everything goes. It may not be the Back to School we’re used to. Government advice is being updated all the time and plans are constantly changing. But the retail team has worked so hard getting the branches set up and ready for this summer that I’m sure, together, we’ll make it a success.