Although our physical shop doors in Covent Garden have been closed, our online shop has been very much open and trading well thanks to your support. Fortunately our online shop is fulfilled by an external fulfilment company who have done an amazing job getting orders to our customers as quickly as possible. Our online partner also fulfils for the online shops of several other charities so they quickly adapted to providing socially distanced, safe working measures for all their staff, with any office based staff working from home.
March was a particularly busy time for the Retail team as it’s when we’re signing-off our Christmas ranges. So, after the team quickly adjusted to working from home, and getting used to video conferencing (!), we turned our attention to Christmas and adding the final touches to this year’s Christmas knitwear and fairtrade bauble designs. I think this year’s design is our best yet so sign up to our enewsletter to be the first to see it when it launches later in the year.
We’ve seen some interesting trends in online sales since the start of lockdown, including lots of home improvement purchases such as our iconic prints, posters and exclusive moquette furniture. We’ve also sold lots of game and puzzles to keep the family busy. One thing we’ve noticed which is very heart-warming is the sending of gifts to people, so it’s nice to think we’re helping to put a smile on someone’s face during this difficult time.
In recent weeks, our focus has now shifted to re-opening the shop in Covent Garden. We’re looking at how best to promote a socially distanced and pleasant shopping environment which may mean the removal of some shop floor fixtures and managing the numbers of people entering and exiting the shop. We’ll be following Government guidelines, increasing our cleaning and installing screens around our till points to keep our staff and customers safe. The team especially our Shop Manager, Simon, is desperate to get back on the shop floor to welcome you all again soon.
Thank you for your continued support. Every purchase helps us to re-open our doors so please do keep visiting our online shop.