Irrespective of the size of your retail store in Sydney, routine cleaning will keep your store sparkling and your customers and staff healthy and happy. There is so much we can tell you about the need for routine cleaning in a store, but this article is not about that. Today, we talk about the detailed store cleaning procedure followed by professional retail store cleaners in Sydney.
As one of the top commercial cleaning companies in Sydney, Clean Group services the routine cleaning requirements of a lot of businesses, including retail stores and supermarkets, all over the region. We have professionals who can tell you exactly the process to follow when cleaning your store by yourself for the best results and safety.
Why retail cleaning is important
Maintaining a clean and fresh vibe in your store will help make a great impression on your customers and ensure that your store visitors have a great experience every time they visit your place. On the other hand, a dirty or mismanaged store will almost always turn off visitors.
Cleaning can have a significant impact on your store business as well as on your market reputation. Make sure that people have a great image of your business and talk only good things about you by getting your place professionally cleaned every once in a while.
Retail Cleaning: How it’s done (Checklist & Detailed Procedure)
If you are only looking for a cleaning checklist, i.e. a list of all the tasks that one is supposed to do when cleaning a retail store, here you go:
Retail Store Cleaning Checklist by Clean Group
- Vacuuming, scrubbing & mopping the floors
- Routine cleaning of all toilets and restrooms
- Cleaning, vacuuming carpets and stain removal
- Emptying and cleaning trash cans and replacing bin liners
- Cleaning doors, windows, cabinets, mirrors, and glass
- Vehicle parking cleaning
- Cleaning counters and the reception area
- Vents and ducts cleaning
- Dusting or wiping down products & re-organizing
- High touchpoint disinfection
- Life & staircase cleaning (if available)
If you already have an in-house team for routine store cleaning, you can pass down this checklist to your team to make sure that they cover everything and every place inside the facility.
However, if you want to get more detailed knowledge of store cleaning and know how to do it like a professional and get the expected results by making the best use of the available resources, please continue reading.
Retail Store/ Supermarket Cleaning Procedure in Sydney
When creating a plan for the cleaning of a retail store, we at Clean Group would prefer to break down the job into smaller tasks to make sure that we cover each and every section of your property and leave no area unattended.
Here are some of the major parts of a store that need to be covered in a retail cleaning project:
- Reception areas, entry & exit
- Billing counters
- Product showcase areas
- Trial rooms
- Break Rooms & toilets
- Lift, stairways & escalators
- Vehicle parking
We clean one area at a time, making sure that it is thoroughly and properly cleaned before we move on to the next part.
1. Cleaning the Store Reception Areas, Entry & Exit
The first impression matters. When customers visit your store, they want to see a clean and well-maintained reception. Routine cleaning of these areas might also encourage more people to walk into your store, even just for a quick look around. Here’s everything we suggest covering in routine store cleaning:
- Sweep or vacuum the floors and remove litter
- Vacuum door mats and carpets
- Dust or wipe down hard surfaces, counters, desks, tables, chairs, doors, windows, door handles, etc.
- Remove cobwebs and clean up the dirt from the floors
- Wipe clean the glass using a glass cleaner and a microfibre cloth
- Dust and wipe light fixtures, boards, banners, and electronic gadgets
- Disinfect the area, including touchpoints such as door handles
- Mop the floors with a disinfectant
- Empty the trash cans and replace bin liners
- Re-arrange everything, including coffee tables and magazines
- Make sure the area just outside the store gates is clean and dust-free
2. Cleaning the Billing Counters
The billing counters in your store are where the most traffic is, and it can start piling up quickly if you are not careful. Keeping your counters clean is important to prevent infections from spreading to other parts of the store and make a great impression on your customers.
- Dust, clean or wipe the counters daily, including the product placement space
- Clean and mop the floors with a disinfectant
- Disinfect all touchpoints, i.e. places that are very often touched by people
- Make sure that the products at the checkout are properly organised and look neat
- Make sure that the bins are clean
3. The Product Area Cleaning
This is the main area of your store. It will have racks and cabinets showing products in an organised manner. What you should want is to keep the shelves organised, sorted and free of dirt. Here’s what all needs to be done:
- Clean–dust or vacuum–shelves and racks
- Wipe clean the glass using a glass cleaner
- Clean the partitions between shopping areas, wipe down vertical surfaces and mirrors
- Vacuum the carpets and remove any spots and stains
- Vacuum upholstery and soft furnishing
- Arrange furniture and decor items to look presentable
- Remove cobwebs and clean the vents
- Dust/vacuum the tops of shelves
- Vacuum and mop floors and any hard surfaces using a disinfectant
- Empty and clean the trash bins and dispose of the waste
Make sure that the product showcase area and aisles are spotless and sparkling at all times. You may need to hire a full-time commercial cleaner to handle any spills and cleaning emergencies during operational hours.
4. Trial Rooms
If your retail store sells clothing items or apparel that might need to be tried on first and if you have dedicated trial rooms for the purpose, they must also be cleaned with a routine.
- Wipe clean the trial rooms doors and walls
- Wipe down mirrors using a glass cleaner
- Clean and mop hard floors and surfaces
- Disinfect everything
- Make sure that the aisle is also cleaned and properly maintained
5. Retail Store Break Room & Toilet Cleaning
Many stores have dedicated toilets and restrooms for customers. I should not have to say how important it is to make sure that your store toilets are properly & thoroughly cleaned at least once daily. Here’s our daily restroom cleaning checklist for your reference:
- Clean and disinfect toilets, bowls, urinals, seats and other parts
- Clean and disinfect wash basins, water taps and the counter
- Wipe down mirrors using a disinfectant and microfibre cloth
- Mop or wash the hard floors with a disinfectant
- Empty and wash the trash cans and replace the liners
- Replenish toiletries, soap, tissue papers, etc.
6. Lift, Stairways & Escalators
Stairways and lifts are also heavily used areas in a retail store and should be cleaned on a routine basis. These should be easier & quicker to clean than other parts because these areas are generally empty or unoccupied. When cleaning a lift or stairway, do all this:
- Vacuum and mop the floors and all hard surfaces, including the stairs
- Wipe and disinfect all touchpoints, including handrails, lift buttons, handles, etc.
- Wipe clean the mirror/glass using a disinfectant
- Disinfect multiple times during the day
7. Vehicle Parking Cleaning
If your retail store has a dedicated parking lot for the vehicles of visitors and employees, you have to keep it clean and maintained for the safety of users. Here’s how:
- Get rid of any loose dirt and debris, and remove litter, tree leaves, etc.
- Remove unwanted vegetation, grass, etc.
- Pressure wash the entire area at least once a month
- Clean up stains and repair any cracks and potholes on a regular basis
Why You May Need Professional Store Cleaning Services in Sydney
Cleaning can be difficult and time-consuming, especially when you have no time or prior experience in cleaning a commercial facility like a store. This is where we suggest you hire a professional retail cleaning team to automate routine maintenance of your store.
This will also ensure you can spend your time managing and growing the business rather than cleaning the facility by yourself or managing a team full-time.
As a small business owner in the highly competitive retail space, you might want to focus all your time and energy on developing your business & catering to the needs of your customers.
Having to do that while also managing the day-to-day cleaning of your workplace or hiring, training & managing a full-time team of cleaners can take a toll on your mental well-being and operational budget.
Outsourcing retail cleaning is both efficient and affordable. You can hire our store cleaners as and when you need and pay them on an hourly basis, i.e. only for the number of hours you actually use their services.
Our cleaning staff consists of full-time, in-house cleaners who have relevant industry experience and have been trained by the best to provide tailored cleaning services that meet our customers’ requirements and expectations. We are too professional to make mistakes. Our staff is friendly, insured and always on time.
Call us today to request a free quote for store cleaning Sydney.