Marketing and commercialisation specialist Shoppertainment has spent every week since the lockdown guidelines were announced across the UK on the 23rd March helping their traders prepare to get back on their feet.
The company worked closely with Shopping Centres across the country who were keen to get their long term traders back in business in a safe environment.
It has been important to make health and safety a priority for each centre, trader and their shoppers. With this in mind, Shoppertainment worked closely with the management teams to get the centres ready. This included installing various safety measures including barrier screens, hand sanitiser units and face-mask vending machines to coincide with the ‘new normal’ to enable traders to work and shoppers to return to the malls in a safe environment.
Long-term relationships with many traders allowed the company to keep in contact with traders throughout the pandemic and find the best option for each business and Centre. They worked with all parties to make sure their promotional spaces were available for their return or in some cases by moving to a new safer location.
The commercialisation experts started to notice an increase in brand activation enquiries, as well as pop up unit interest due to the rates relief and new and exciting entrepreneurs wanting to start up their own business.
Managing Director of Shoppertainment, Clare Andrew, said some traders had become creative working with Shoppertainment during lockdown in regards to how they can showcase their work to the local community, using empty units within centres to display pieces of artwork, gifts and other promotions: “This shift into more of a creative, community focused operator shows the increase of community spirit that has risen throughout lockdown.
“We’ve worked closely with centre teams to prepare for re-opening and ensure that traders have a safe space to operate, that will reignite their businesses. We are also working creatively with the many new small businesses to establish space for their businesses in centres across the UK; whether that is via vacant units or creating new space within the mall.
“It is important that we provide this platform for small businesses and guide them through the process especially when the way in which we operate in our malls has changed pretty much overnight,” she added.
