{"id":16287,"date":"2020-07-08T11:49:19","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T11:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sevansolutions.kantsios.com\/retail-site-survey-analysis-post-covid\/"},"modified":"2020-07-08T11:49:19","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T11:49:19","slug":"retail-site-survey-analysis-post-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sevanupdates.happy-staging.com\/en-gb\/retail-site-survey-analysis-post-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail Site Survey and Analysis Key to Moving Past COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Nick Jonihakis, AIA, NCARB, LEED Green Associate,\u00a0Operations Director at Sevan<\/p>\n

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Easing into \u201cthe new norm,\u201d all 50 states in the U.S. have slowly begun a phased reopening, following the Coronavirus lockdown that began in March.<\/p>\n

In doing so, it has become apparent how important it is for store management and owners to understand what physical changes<\/a> local management of facilities and stores may have made in order to protect their staff and customers amidst Coronavirus concerns and in an effort to abide by CDC recommendations for social distancing. Barriers, way-direction signage, and sometimes even short or full walls have been installed in a reactionary manner in order to best manage travel paths and enable social distancing.<\/p>\n

Surveys Collect Data to Understand Store Updates Made Across Your Portfolio<\/h3>\n

Since the health, safety, and welfare of store and facility team members as well as customers is at stake, it is important to note that many on-site adaptations and additional protection installed on the fly have made a large number of stores non-compliant in relation to functionality and sometimes accessibility guidelines.<\/p>\n

As owners get back into the swing of things and have time to sort through the chaos, it is important to clearly document existing spaces and their current conditions, in order to best decide how to revise or even drastically change the current routes and functionality within stores\u2019 spaces.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why: COVID-19 has radically altered the shopping and buying behaviors of the public during the pandemic, and many of these \u201cnew norm\u201d behaviors are expected to continue. A potentially longer-lasting change is the accelerated adoption of the e-commerce platforms being used and the adaptation of new e-commerce platforms being introduced to the American and worldwide public.<\/p>\n

These new behaviors are expected to redefine the role of the \u201cbrick and mortar\u201d store and will force retailers and all store operators to offer unique experiences\u2014instead of the typical transactional processes in place prior to the pandemic\u2014to drive ongoing customer satisfaction<\/span>. Contemplated changes must be reviewed and approved, and that cannot be done without first gaining a clear understanding of the physical stores\u2019 current condition including all temporary COVID-19 related alterations.<\/p>\n

How Socially Distant Facility Surveys Can Help<\/span><\/h3>\n

In order to be in the best possible position to make decisions about changes to a store\u2019s functional layout, it is necessary to know what updates have taken place as a result of COVID-19. A clear and concise understanding of the existing as-built conditions within stores is of paramount importance. Facility survey technologies available today \u2014 such as integrated field investigation reports, 360\u00b0 spherical photo surveys, and 360\u00b0 Interactive (LiDAR Scanning) \u201cDigital Twins\u201d \u2014 require reduced personnel presence and allow survey companies to conduct surveys using minimally intrusive methods not previously possible.<\/p>\n

Surveys are currently performed utilizing CDC-specific guidelines so as to minimize the spread of Coronavirus and maximize social distancing. Multiple survey methods are available with each delivering different levels of information:<\/p>\n