Right now, for nearly any industry or business that deals in direct sales, contactless delivery is the name of the game.

As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, customers are looking for increased ways to make the purchases they need to while staying as safe as possible from any potential contact or contagions. As a result, many retailers have turned to contactless delivery in order to create a heightened sense of safety and defense from contamination.

Contactless delivery, in this case, refers to any purchase where the consumer doesn’t come into direct contact with the product or the retail workers before the delivery is made. In many cases it takes the form of a staff member running the item directly out to the customer’s car, or creating a safe area for item pickup without the involvement of a cashier.

As this trend continues, many retail businesses have been forced to adapt to these needs and provide a safer form of delivery. Of course, these changes have also brought about a need for storage that can adapt to the needs of contactless delivery and keep their products safe, even before they reach the customer.

Contactless Delivery Storage Ideas

The first step for any contactless delivery program is to create an area where items can be safely stored. When you boil it down, the point of contactless delivery is to reduce the amount of ‘touches’ an item receives, and keep it in an area that’s potentially safer and less prone to being interacted with by other customers and/or workers.

As space allows, if your business deals in contactless delivery (either directly to customers, or as part of your shipping routine), your first step is to designate an area where these items can be kept before the customer arrives for pickup. Focus on using materials that can help inhibit the spread of germs, such as wire shelving, NSF sterile shelving, and MetroMax antimicrobial shelves to reduce the spread of anything communicable.

Additionally, you need to limit the amount of workers that come into contact with these items. Ideally, you’ll be able to use one or two members of your floor team and/or picking staff (depending on the size and structure of your business) to work as contactless delivery personnel – once the orders come in, this team should be the only ones to interact with the items going forward to reduce the risk of ‘touches’ and promote a reduction in potential germs or contamination on the items themselves.

Of course, storing it safely is only half the battle – you still have to get it to the customer. There’s a few options here, one of the most common being designating a worker to deliver the items to the customers’ car. This staff member should be part of the picking team designated previously, to reduce the number of people that come into contact with the customers’ items.

That said, there are some stores that are experimenting with a more ‘delivery’-based system. What many businesses are doing is creating an area inside the store where customers produce a proof-of-purchase (usually an email confirmation), and a worker (a safe distance away) produces their items via a shelf of gravity conveyors to deliver the purchase without coming into direct contact with the customer. This can still promote social distancing while allowing customers back into your business in case they need any more hands-on help or interactions involving the item.

Whatever you do for your contactless delivery storage, make sure to focus on customer safety first and foremost – after all, why bother practicing contactless delivery if you’re not focused on customer wellness?