Vodafone reopens its retail stores across the UK

Vodafone has reopened its doors across the UK – with 363 stores opening today in England and Wales, and 15 ‘Click and Collect’ stores in Scotland and Northern Ireland – with more stores scheduled to open in due course.

Store opening hours have been extended to meet customer demand, with stores now open until 10pm in a number of locations.

Vodafone has redesigned the layouts of the stores to ensure social distancing. Where stores are too small to implement this, it has set up kiosks at the front of the store.

Measures to ensure the safety of customers and employees include:

Deep-cleaning stores and spraying them with anti-bacterial treatments.
Alcohol-based hand gel at all entrances, and personal protective equipment for staff.
Ensuring staff have their own sales terminal that only they will use, as well as perspex protective screens at all our customer service points.
Removal of all display devices to reduce the risk of surface contamination.
Limiting the number of customers allowed in store at any one time to maintain social distancing guidelines.

Ensuring that only one advisor serves one customer at a time.
A concierge service that continuously manages the shop’s doors during opening hours – they will allow customers in or advise on an estimated waiting time for the next available advisor.

A virtual queuing system is also in place in our largest stores, managed by the store teams when the customer initially arrives at the store. This means customers can continue with their shopping, and will be notified five minutes before being able to see a customer advisor.
Set shift patterns for employees to ensure they work with the same group of colleagues.
Advising that any employee who is vulnerable, or living with someone vulnerable, will not have to return to work in store.
Ensuring our stores remain cashless to reduce contamination risk and the time it takes to process transactions.

For customers who are still not able to visit our stores, or who still feel uneasy about doing so, our Tech Team Virtual Appointments will be available. This gives customers the freedom to speak to our advisors over the phone and have any problems resolved remotely. Customers can book a free appointment using our Online Store Locator.

Max Taylor, Consumer Director, Vodafone UK, said: “Our retail teams have done a fantastic job while working from home throughout the past year, but we are now ready to serve our customers again from our shops on the high streets.

“Ensuring the safety of our customers and employees is our top priority, and we look forward to welcoming them back into our stores.”