Boots has moved quickly to reassure customers of its plans to continue providing a safe shopping experience and safe working environment in stores across the UK. 

Since the beginning of lockdown Boots was named an essential retailer, prioritising the safety of customers and colleagues to keep the majority of stores open and ensuring everyone had access to a pharmacy to get the prescriptions, essential medicines, advice and support they need.  

Some new and updated safety measures include; managing the number of people in store, a triaging process for different customers’ needs, dedicated social distancing champions, one-way routes for selected stores, and more signage to help maintain a 2-metre distance.  

A new wave of PPE is rolling out including additional perspex screens to cover all counters, tills, self-checkouts and areas that have not been recently utilised. Boots was the first retailer to introduce perspex visors, and colleagues will continue to receive them along with other PPE equipment. Hand sanitising stations are being trialled in stores and key touch points will be regularly cleaned.  

There will be some changes to the way people can shop beauty products in store with the temporary removal of testers and face to face consultations, but customers can now experience the first-ever virtual beauty service with No7.  The online video consultations offer 15–20-minute personalised, one-to-one service with a No7 advisor for cosmetic and skincare advice. 

Tracey Clements, Chief Operating Officer of Boots UK and ROI said: “We’ve learnt a great deal over the last eight weeks and the additional measures we are putting in place will allow us to adapt to a radically different retail world. Many of the developments are based on feedback from our colleagues who are looking forward to welcoming back more customers. Hygiene, social distancing and protection for customers and colleagues continues to be our focus.” 

For those who may face the high street with trepidation, Boots is exploring geo-targeted ads that will let people know when their local store is less busy, and customers can also still choose to shop on Boots.com. Many people have recently moved to online shopping and Boots responded to demand by doubling capacity and finding new ways to facilitate orders. At times product ranges online have been optimised, but more lines continue to be brought back every day. 

When it comes to Boots Opticians and Hearingcare, operational changes have been made to ensure people have access to the essential care they need. The expert clinicians are providing care by phone and if they advise that a customer needs to be seen in store, they can offer face to face appointments with the appropriate PPE, social distance and enhanced cleaning measures.