CASH COUNTER MANAGEMENT- ROLE OF HEAD CASHIERS

The maximum number of customer interaction that one faces in a retail store is the cash counter. Hence it becomes very important to keep the cash counter very efficient and manned at all times. An effective and neat cash counter is a sign of a very professionally managed store.

It’s the responsibility of the cash counter in-charge or the head cashier to see to it that each and every cash counter is managed properly. At start of the trading it’s important that the cashier assigned to a specific cash counter needs to look into the following points.
· The cash counter is neat and tidy.
The cash counter should not be untidy as it is at this place that a sale is closed. It’s a very sensitive area from the point of sales, and hence it may convert or break a sale. It is at this place that customers make impulse decisions. Cash counters being untidy and dirty can irate a customer and it can be one of the major reasons for loss in sale.
· To ensure the cash till/POS machine is working:
Before letting customers approach your counter for billing cashiers should make sure that the POS is functional and there is no problem. The cashier also needs to check and update all schemes, offers for the day with the help of the systems personnel. This helps in efficiency in billing and help in reducing long queue and delay at the cash counter.
· To check all telephone lines and EDC machines are working:
The cashier needs to check whether the phone lines and the EDC machines are working. The reason is if a customer wishes to pay by credit card the cashier needs to swipe the same on the EDC machine and to get authorization from the bank the telephone line needs to be functional. During week ends and peak seasons stores are packed with customers and there are a long queues in front of the cash counters. At this stage if the telephone line or the EDC machine is not working then it will be a nightmare for the cashier as he will have face the customers anger. Hence it’s very important to make it a practice to check the telephone lines and the EDC machines before the billing process.

· To ensure stationery is available:
Cashiers need to make sure stationeries like pen, stapler, rubber stamps, calculator, manual bill book, etc. is available at the cash counter. These are essential stationeries and are required most of the time during the billing process. If any one of them is not available during the billing process it delays the transaction. Also it does not show a professional approach to a customer and due to the delay the customer becomes irritated. It may also be a reason for loss in sale.
· To ensure returns are sent back:
Most of the times customers tend to decide not to bill some items and leave the same at the cash counter. If not attended to it tends to pile up at the cash counter and makes the place very uncomfortable for the cashier as well as the customer. Hence at every interval the cashier needs to make it a point to send such items back to the department or section to where it belongs.
· Q-Manager in place:
Last but not the least cashiers should ensure that Q-managers are in place in front of the cash counter to avoid crowding of customers in front of the cash desk. Q-managers will help the customers to form a proper queue so as all customers get to bill at the cash counter in turns without any problem.

The head cashier should ensure this is practised religiously every day.

Reports generated by the head cashier:

Usually a head cashier is expected to generate a report which shows the total number of transactions done in all the cash counters, a detail SKU wise report, a detail tender wise report and a detail report in all individual cash counters which will reflect all the cancellations done, refunds made, and any other specific transaction made apart from the billings made. Based on these reports the head cashier has to submit his daily submission report to the store manager. Also all investigations are done based on these reports. Some software also has the efficiency to generate report period wise, apart from date wise, and also time wise, i.e. between a specific time periods in a day, individually in all cash counters. The more the reports are detailed the easier it becomes for a head cashier to investigate a case.

Banking process:

Banking of the daily sales cash also is the responsibility of the head cashier. It is very crucial for the head cashier to tally the entire physical collections made with the system report, and to report of any shortfalls immediately to the concerned cashier the same day. Once all the cash collections from all the cashiers are made, the head cashier does the banking process early in the morning the next day.
· He first needs to bundle the currencies denomination wise, count the same and record it in the bank deposit slip.
· It is very important and mandatory to note the organizations PAN number (Permanent Account Number) for all deposits above fifty thousand rupees made in India.
· Once the money is deposited he needs to file the acknowledged slip received from the bank, and get it signed by the store manager on a daily basis, along with the reconciliation slip of the previous days collections made.
· The store manager needs to check that the collections made and the deposit made in the bank should be the same and should not differ at any time.

The head cashier also needs to take care of the petty cash for the store. All expenses for the store are taken care by this petty cash. Money from the daily sales collection should never be used for the day-to-day expense of the store. He needs to ensure that the entire daily sales collection is banked immediately the following day.

Most of the major retailers take the help of cash pick-up security agencies to pick up the daily sales collections from the stores on a daily basis and do the banking process. The head cashier keeps the collections ready prior to the agent coming to collect the cash. Once the agent comes, he checks for his identification and then hands over the collections after taking his signature and name on the daily cash collection register. Once the cash is banked the agent issues the acknowledged slip received from the bank back to the head cashier. When such an agreement is done by the retailer and the collection agent, no risk is involved as safety of the money is ensured as well as insurance cover is ensured by the agency.

AT THE CASH COUNTER

Have you ever stood in a long queue in front of a cash counter in a departmental store or a super market? How do you feel? This is the only activity which I hate while shopping in a store. Most of the times I have noticed customers standing in the queue get into minor arguments. The reason is plain and simple. They lose their patience at one level and then need to find a reason to vent their anger on someone or something. So they will come up with some weird reason to come up with an argument. It is more painful if you will come across stores where the cash counters are not well equipped or the cashiers are not trained properly as all these ads on to the delay in billing and lengthening the queue.
It is at the cash counter that the sale is closed. Most of the retailers are not aware of this important fact and hence ignore this important section or do not put much effort on improving the same. The staffs at the cash counter need to be much disciplined in their activities that they do and need to also concentrate a lot in their work. Cashiers have a tough job to handle as they have to handle daily transactions of around an average of hundred thousand per day. They need to be well verse with the system software and need to have proper training session’s at-least every six months in soft skills and technical skills. As they interact with maximum customers in a day they need to be very polite, helpful in their approach and carry a positive attitude every time.

Once the cashiers enter the store they get ready to collect the float money and the stationary required at the cash deskk

.Float money is a fixed amount of cash distributed to all the cashiers at the beginning of trading. It consists of currencies in smaller denominations. Every cashier need to sign on a register handled by the head cashier on receiving this float money. It also becomes the cashier’s responsibility to collect all the stationeries required at the cash desk during the collection of the float money from the head cashier. The head cashier assigns them the cash point for the day. The Head Cashiers are to maintain till allocation records for cashiers at all times.

What happens next at the cash counter?

The cashiers are then supposed to clean up the cash desk, check the phone lines and Electronic Data Capturing machines (EDC machines), arrange the float money providedcash in the cash till drawer, coins of different denominations in different slots, and notes of different denominations in different slots containing the hook to hold the cash, as this practise will help the cashier to provide exact change to a customer during the transaction process as well as to avoid shrinkage at the end of the day. They should cCheck availability of shopping bags, whether all sizes of shopping bags are available and sufficient enough to suffice for the day. In case any particular size falls short then the same has to be informed to the head cashier so as he will inform the person concerned to replenish the same.
Being proactive and preparing for the day in advance at the cash desk improves efficiency of customer service at the cash desk. At routine intervals and at the end of the day the cashiers are supposed to clear the cash counter of all the merchandise left by the customer due to change of mind, by returning it back to the relevant department through the helper or personally, and at change of shift or during closing need to do the reconciliation activity. They then have to hand over the day’s transaction to the head cashier and sign off for the day. All cashiers need to have basic knowledge of the products sold within the store and also need to update themselves on a daily basis the schemes or offers running in the store, the currency rate in the market as they have to deal with foreign currency transactions as well. They also need to have good communication skill and knowledge of the local language is an added advantage. The basic understanding of how to handle cash is expected from cashiers. A cashier is expected to process all transactions at the cash counter through his or her personal log-in ID only, as all data entered in the system will be recorded in individual log-in ID’s only.
The cashiers also need to be very smart and alert during cashiering process. They should be able to trace shoplifters, and customers indulging in malpractice. They should also be able to identify fake notes while handling cash at the desk.

Have you ever come across a cashier who greets you politely before accepting your goods for payment? Mostly you will come across a cashier who is either very aggressive in his actions, rude, or a very silent person. While your turn comes for payment you will never notice him looking at, forget about giving you a smile, nor will he acknowledge for the payment done. You will also notice him being very stressed out.
Whenever a customer approaches a cash counter for billing a cashier needs to at every moment look at the customer, smile at him and also greet him. It’s the cashier’s job to collect the merchandise from the basket or trolley with utmost care from the customer, and not wait for the customer to hand it over to the cashier.
He then has to scan each and every product carefully without committing any error. If a product does not have a bar code he should be able to enter the alternate item code (AIC). Simultaneously while scanning the products he should check for products carrying offers and observe if the same is being reflected on the screen or not. In case the offer does not reflect on the screen the cashier should call for an authorised person to apply the discounts manually.
After the last product is scanned the cashier is then expected to look at the customer with a smile on the face and inform the customer the final transaction total. He should then ask the customer for the mode of payment he would like to use for making the payment.
Payment is made by cash, credit cards, and vouchers/coupons and in some cases by credit notes.

DAILY SALES REPORT
Requisition is planned based on the sales of the said product.product. The sales are tracked either by the daily sales report (DSR) or the sales withdrawal report (SWR).
It is very essential for the employees to understand and analyse the sales report as it gives information of all the activities related to merchandise and sales. A common DSR which is generated will give information on the store sale, customer entry, conversion, number of products sold, average value of product sold, various category sales, in depth report of products sold SKU-wise, style wise, colour wise and size wise. It gives a detail report of the product line in width as well as in depth. This report helps the sales team to analyse the sales and do the requisition of stocks.
Based on this report and also after analysing the stock position physically, stocks are ordered from the warehouse. The fast moving stocks based on size, content etc.running sizes are ordered a bit more in numbers.
For the apparel category tThe standard ratio as per retail norms is to indentplace two pieces of small size, three each of medium and large size and two pieces of ex-large size and one piece of double ex-large size in apparels. This is as per requirements in a lifestyle format store or a departmental store. Most of the software is equipped to generate the stock withdrawal report which shows the number of pieces sold SKU wise and how many of the same have to be replenished. Bu.t Iit is better to do the requisition same manually as it helps in understanding your products better and at the same time keeps one updated on the sales and movement of stocks within the department.
Focus should be to keep the departments within the store neat and tidy, to make sure of availability of all the stocks and make a customer feel very comfortable to shop inside the store. Apart from this they are also expected to receive the new stocks or the requested stock from the warehouse to their section, price them if required and also to security tag them on the floor. They are also expected to display the signage and shelf talkers required to be placed on the fixtures with respect to the merchandise placed on them. They also need to ensure that all the merchandise has the required barcode on them. A good understanding of the customer’s behaviour is expected from them, analyse the sales and to achieve targets provided, analyse sales of merchandise as to which line is selling and which line is not selling and come to a conclusion. It’s also the moral responsibility of the staffs to check if all the spot lights are working should check for expiry dates on fire extinguishers at regular intervals, if the lifts and escalators are functional, if the speakers in their section are performing well or not, etc. It is the duty of the floor staffs to inform immediately to the concerned team if any of the same is not working or performing. The security in terms of inventory and store assets is also the responsibility of this team. Hence they are also required to conduct global counts, cycle count or stock take as per the requirement and need of the store. Global count is the process where each and every stock keeping unit (SKU) is counted every day at a global level. In a cycle count a particular departments within a store are selected and products from this department are counted in cycles. Stock take is an exercise where the entire stocks within the store are counted physically. These activities are very essential to know the total stock quantity within the store and to understand the shrinkage value of the store. Basically stock take is conducted to tally the physical count and system count. Hence this activity needs to be conducted with cautious and in a planned and systematic order. Stock takes are conducted yearly, half yearly or quarterly depending on the products sold and the size of the store. Apart from all these activities the frontline sales staffs are also required to man the trial rooms in their respective departments. We will see the same in detail separately. These are the various activities which the frontline team need to do over and above selling of products to the customers and achieving the required sales. Because the frontline team is the pillar and face of the organisation they are the brand ambassadors. They therefore need to have a good understanding of retail etiquettes and grooming standards

PLACEMENT OF MERCHANDISE

Placement of merchandise is the art of displaying merchandise in an organised manner so as to offer the right quantity of the right merchandise in the right place at the right time. The concept of S-T-P is implemented in this process.

The objective behind placement of merchandise inside the store is to allocate correct space to all products, and to make sure that the products are grouped together as per the assortment plan and aligned in the right way so as to make it visible to the customer Proper planned placement of merchandise allows enough aisle space for customers, and racking space as well as stacking space for merchandise. This helps in easily identifying slow sellers and fast sellers, missing goods with respect to size or colour or pattern. It also helps to avoid damages to the goods, and helps customers to be able to browse, identify and pick the required merchandise easily. The format and layout of the store place an important role when it comes to placement of merchandise. The placement varies from one type of format to another. For a value format the placement of the merchandise is based on volumes, while for a lifestyle store format the placement is more based on merchandise assortments.
Further the placement of the merchandise also varies based on the verticals i.e. for Apparel, General Merchandise and FMCG products. Within verticals also it varies based on the type of merchandise.
Let us understand this with some examples of products from different verticals.

The placement of stocks in case of Apparels should be:
Ø brand wise,
Ø product wise,
Ø style wise,
Ø size wise,
Ø colour wise and
Ø price wise as per the demand of the store and the nature of the merchandise. The direction of placement should be top to bottom and left to right.

FMCG products
When placing merchandise on shelves and other fixtures one needs to note the first in first out method (FIFO). It helps the retailer to clear the stocks that have come in first on the floor from the shelves first.
In this method the products are placed as per-
Ø Brand
Ø Type
Ø Batch No
Ø Expiry date
Ø Weight
Ø Size
Ø MRP

All the products which have come recently are placed behind on the shelves and the products arrived earlier are placed in front on the shelves. This way the older products are sold ahead of the recent ones.
FIFO needs to be strictly followed for FMCG goods as they are perishable goods. Retailers cannot afford to keep these goods on the shelf for a longer period as they will increase the retailers’ shrinkage.
Loose food grains, and other types of staple products mostly come in sacks. Care should be taken when they are stacked on top of each other. The stack of sacks should not be very tall, but convenient enough for the staff to manage it.
Soft drinks, tetra pack products, mineral water bottles need to be stacked along with the carton one above the other. Only the top most carton need to be opened and the product displayed for the customers.

General Merchandise
Under this vertical let us first understand placements related to electronics and home appliances.
· The heavier products are placed at the bottom and the smaller units are placed on top.
· The gradation in the shelf is big to small –left to right as we face it, the prime reason being our tendency to look from left to right every time, and not the other way round, hence even the higher priced products are placed at the left hand corner.
· The eye level shelves which are between shoulder height to hip level get maximum reach, here the main products are displayed and focused upon.
· All products placed on pallets should be at chest level.
· Merchandise displayed below the knee level is lost to a customer. This space should be utilised to store excess merchandise required for replenishing. Hence in some stores cabinets are placed below the shelves at knee level.
Product handling is a very crucial aspect in retail. Stacking same items one above the other must be carefully executed to avoid unnecessary damage / scratch to the items.
Movement of items is to be limited and performed only if it is to be replenished.


In most of the general stores and supermarkets in India the placement of stocks on the floor is not up to the mark. One will notice that stocks are just placed wherever space is available and a signage is placed besides it. You will also notice signage which says,
“TOUCH IT, FEEL IT,
BUT CONSIDERED SOLD IF BROKEN”

Such signages are very prominent near crockery and gift article section. I personally as a retail expert would not entertain any signage conveying such a negative statement to a customer. Simply because it is the responsibility of the store staffs to take care of the merchandise, and the way they are placed on the fixtures.

Just to make maximum utilization of space does not mean one should get into such an activity inside the store. It is very essential to plan your space properly to display merchandise. Proper stacking of merchandise on the store floor plays an important role in reducing stock damages. Merchandise should be stacked on the floor in such a manner that goods are not dumped on each other thereby damaging them.

Because of not placing merchandise properly on shelves the chances of damage to goods is high. Items which are fragile in nature e.g. crockery, toys, electronic items, etc, should always be placed or stacked one by one on a rack. They should never be all dumped together or placed haphazardly. For fragile goods the shelf space should be enough for just one row of items. The staffs should also take care to place every product in such a manner that there is adequate space between items to enable one to easily pick a piece from the rack.

SHOP FLOOR ACTIVITIES








Activities performed within various departments in a retail store

Frontline sales team oOn the shop floor:-

Once the staffs enter their department they need to be dressed in full uniform as per company norms, and also get properly groomed as per the service standards.

Appearance
The frontline team is the brand ambassador of the store. The customers visiting the stores are greeted by this team and are assisted by them. Hence they are expected to present a neat & clean appearance. They are expected to be in uniforms (including shirt, trousers, shoes & socks) which must be worn clean & ironed. Care should be taken so as no stains, broken buttons, or loose thread is present on the uniform. Shoes should be clean & polished all the time. No sandals/slippers/sports shoes and white socks shouldqq233 be worn while on duty. Nails must be clean & cut as most of the time one will be handling merchandise. When in store premises, even during off-duty hours, a well dressed appearance needs to be maintained. Hair should be combed before commencing duty, never in front of customers.

Specifically for Men
· Uniform prescribed should be clean and pressed.
· Shoes should be clean and polished.
· Hair must be short, clean & tidy.
· One is expected to have a clean shaven look.
· In case of beards/moustaches, must be trimmed, neat & tidy.
· Nails should be cut or trimmed neatly at regular intervals.
· Any type of earrings studs & bracelets are not to be worn on the floor during official hours.

Specifically for Women
· Lady staffs having long hair should tie their hair not keep it loose, not much oil applied to it.
· No (gajras) string of small white jasmine flowers hooked on the head.
· They should avoid bright coloured nail polish and long nails as they will be a cause to distract customers or damage the merchandise on display.
· Minimum, non-flashy jewellery should be worn.
· Dangling earrings, noisy anklets & bangles must not be worn on the floor
· Only very light make-up to be applied (lipstick of very light shades only)

Personal Hygiene/Body posture
· Staffs need to keep their Hands clean at all times as they mostly will be handling merchandise or in contact with customers.
· Floor staffs should avoid biting nails on the floor.
· Floor staffs should also manage body odour & bad breath to be under control as they are offensive to the customer.
· Presenting Self by maintaining straight & upright posture on the shop floor, should be the floor staffs motive.
· Slouching on the floor should be avoided and hands in pockets & hands on the hips are not courteous to the customer & hence should also be avoided.

Dress Code
· All frontline staffs in the store should wear a prescribed uniform everyday.
· The back-end staffs mostly are expected to be in formal dress code.
· The direct & indirect staffs need to display ID cards when on duty so as it helps the customers to identify the staffs.
· Service staffs handling edible foodstuff should wear clean gloves while all staffs working inside the kitchen & live bakery sections at FMCG stores need to wear caps when on duty.
· The shop-in-shop staffs & brand promoters have their approved uniforms.
· Mostly black socks & black belts are preferred as a part of staff uniforms.

Housekeeping, security & other contractual staff also have their own prescribed uniforms with shoes.

The employees will then attend the daily meeting conducted by the line manager or the store manager, who will brief the team on the previous day’s sales, the stores performance and the target for the day. If any corporate announcement has to be made it is done in this meeting. During such meetings the store manager also chooses to wish staffs on their birthdays, congratulate them on some achievements or appreciate and reward them for any job done well on the previous day. He may also discuss specific responsibilities for the day. After the meeting the staffs will enter their specific department and will arrange the merchandise and place the merchandise in an orderly manner depending on the type of product they are handling. If its apparels they will arrange the merchandise product wise, all formal shirts grouped together, within which all full sleeves should be grouped together and short sleeves grouped together, all plain shirts grouped separately, striped shirt separately and check shirt separately and so on , and then place it style wise, then colour wise and then size wise. Same with the entire bottom wears. All stocks need to be arranged in a top-to-bottom, left-to-right pattern, reason being when a customer browses through the merchandise the movement of the customer is from left side to the right and also while looking at merchandise placed on shelves they tend to look from top to bottom.

Once the staffsy have arranged the merchandise neatly they will have to replenish the stocks sold the previous day. The stocks are replenished from the back end store warehouse or stock room. The replenishment of stocks need to be made keeping in mind the racking and stacking capacity of the respective fixture where the product is displayed. This is very essential as if not taken care of it becomes very difficult for the staffs to manage inventory as well as becomes inconvenient for the customers to pick stocks from the fixture. All staffs working in the FMCG section should regularly check if the cold storage in the warehouse and the chillers on the store floor kept for perishable goods are functioning properly or not and their temperature set to the appropriate range. On a day to day basis the maintenance staff along with the relevant floor staff should ensure that relevant temperature standards required for the various perishable items (e.g. milk and dairy products, meats, frozen desserts) are maintained and items stacked within the capacity of the chillers.

STORE OPENING PROCESS CONT'D...

Process:
· The opening and closing of the store is done by two different managers according to the schedule provided by the store manager. Every organization has a fixed process which is followed and adhered to.
· The main entrance to the store is never opened first.
· The back door namely staff entrance is the first door to be opened.
· The store should be opened for the day for trading by a management staff along with the security guard.
· The person assigned for opening the store checks the lock if it is sealed properly, and not tampered with.
· The seal to the lock should have the following information:
Date of closing
Time of closing
Closed by
Signature

It is very crucial for the manager to observe these information mentioned on the seal before opening the lock. The signature should match to the one disclosed by the core member, assuring no other initial or signature is present. The time of closing should be the same informed to him by the closing manager the previous day.

· He then opens the door, gets in along with the security guard and puts in the entry time and signs in the store opening/closing register.
· He then immediately needs to check the checklist and see for any remarks entered in it the previous closing time so as can act accordingly
· He switches on the minimum lights as required.
· He has to then check all the sensitive rooms such as the cash room, the server room, the panel room, etc. whether they have been tampered with or not and accordingly note in the register.
· All the doors to these rooms will be sealed the previous day.
· He will then allow the security guards to enter the store.
· All the security guards will get stationed at their respective posts as decided by the security supervisor.
· The guards get posted at the main entrance, at the customer service desk, at all the trial rooms, the entrance to the back office, the main entrance to the store, the ware house exit/entry door, and at all the other necessary place as required by the manager.
· The housekeeping supervisor will then allow his men to enter the store to begin with the house keeping activities.
· The team gets divided floor wise, department wise, and section wise.
· As per retail standards the floors are first swept, and then wet mopped and then followed by dry mop.
· If the floor is having carpet it is vacuum cleaned thoroughly twice in a day.
· All the washrooms are then cleaned, water tanks are filled.
· The cooler for drinking water is kept ready, back office computers, desks and cabins are cleaned.
· The food and grocery section is thoroughly cleaned, and the chillers are also wiped.
· All the fixtures, browsers, wall panels are also wipe cleaned.
· All the trolleys are also cleaned and then counted and taken out of the store and parked near the entrance to the store.
· The shopping baskets are also cleaned and placed at the entrance to all the departments.
· Trolleys and baskets are cleaned on weekly basis or as per requirement.
· This entire process should take one hour before trading begins. One has to ensure that proper cleaning materials are used to clean the fixtures and other materials in the store. Care should be taken when cleaning all wooden fixtures. Proper polish especially meant for polishing wood should be used for the same. Separate solution is used for metal and glass fixtures. Room fresheners also need to be used whenever necessary.
· Half an hour before trading the staffs is allowed to enter from the staff entrance.
· The security guard present does the frisking of the staff as mobile phones and other valuables are not allowed to be carried inside the store.
· Lady employees are frisked by the lady searcher. The valuables are all placed inside the locker of the individual staff.
· The staff then signs in the in/out register and settles in his respective department.
· The head cashier opens the cash room,, the systems personnel opens the server room and the maintenance in charge opens the panel room.
· The maintenance person switches on all the lights and air conditioner.
· The systems person switches the server and computers on and the head cashier takes out the float money float and stationary required at the cash desk and hands over to all the individual cashiers.

Float money is fixed amount of change given in all denominations less than INR. 100/-. to all the cashiers at the beginning of the individual cashier’s trading period on the till. Mostly the float money ranges from between INR.1000/- to INR.2000/-. The cashiers are supposed to hand over the float money back to the head cashier separately at the end of the shift apart from handing over the day’s collections.











· The customer service desk in charge opens his cabin and logs onswitches open his computer.
· Once all the cashiers have logged on their point of sale machine and ready the main entrance to the store is opened for customers.

Any deviation from the above process is immediately recorded in the log book. Also if any untoward incident occurs and is observed by the opening manager he immediately informs the store manager and necessary action is taken accordingly

STORE OPENING PROCESS
To understand the operations of a store one needs to be aware of all the day to day activities happening within a store. He needs to be a keen observer and should have a hunger for learning.

One needs to ask questions to himself when inside a shop floor as to why the store lay out is in the way it is, why such a merchandise mix, understand and ask why fixtures are placed in a particular manner, and how it solves the problem, and which fixture is used when and where and why, and try to analyse each and every activity happening in the shop floor. The more you observe and the more you ask questions the more you come closer in understanding operations. You also need to understand the SOP for each and every process inside the store. Let’s understand this step by step. What is the first activity that happens when the store is ready to open?

Store opening process:
Every retailer ensures that his store is properly secured and proper safety and security has been taken care of. It is a very critical responsibility of store operations managers to take care of the store so as to ensure that all the merchandise and valuables inside the store is properly arranged and safe at all times.
Every day hundreds of customers enter the store for shopping hence it becomes very important to open and close the store at a fix time so as it does not cause any inconvenience to a customer. To ensure this is in place a proper process needs to be followed during the store opening and closing time.

It is very important that the store is ready and spick and span before opening for trading for the day. A customer judges the servicethe service provided by the store by the ambience it provides to one. Hence to take care of all these the store should be opened one hour prior to trading.

Responsibility:
Only the core management team is responsible and authorized to handle the store opening and closing process. The core team will disclose their individual signature among themselves, which they will use only for store closing and opening process. This sample signature would not be disclosed to anyone other than the core team. It is the store manager’s responsibility to ensure that a register is maintained to track the store opening and closing process.
The store manager needs to prepare a schedule as to who will do the store opening and closing. The designated manager for the store opening and closing process needs to ensure that the register for the same is updated, checked and signed on a daily basis. He is also responsible for the store keys and needs to log the same in the key register on a daily basis. Managing keys at the store is a critical and sensitive operational function, which needs to be handled in a secure manner. Being inattentive to these critical areas will expose the entire store resources to serious risk.
The store is responsible for minimizing the risks involved in movement of keys and providing complete security for all the resources at the store.
The store opening and closing register lists the details of timings, signatory of authorized person, key details, etc. Any deviation in the process is noted in a separate log book. A check list also is in place which the manager needs to adhere to accordingly. The check list acts as a guide and ensures nothing is missed out during the opening and closing process.