Do the Opening Shift in a Retail Store
Wake up! Time for work to start! The opening shift in a store involves preparing the store and its equipment for the day, unlocking and ensuring that everyone is ready to go.
Steps
- Unlock the store. Check for suspicious people. If windows or doors are broken and look tampered with, do not open it; instead, call the police!
- Turn on the store equipment. Turn on the lights. Turn on computers, printers, copy machines, and the stereo.
- Do the morning housekeeping. Place any sale signs on fixtures. Hang posters. Wet mop the floor and dust fixtures. Fix any area that needs cleaning, if not already done during the night or the evening before.
- Floor walk through the sales areas and check the floor. Look for anything missed during the closing shift and fix any un-recovered areas. Make the store looks the way you would want it as a customer.
- Replenish items as needed.
- Take items out of shipment boxes and put them on fixtures.
- Prepare the cash register. Turn on the cash registers. Place money in the appropriate drawer slots and turn on the receipt printer. Check that there is sufficient paper for printing off the receipts. Make sure everything nearby works, such as walkie talkies, note pads, pens, calculators and currency checkers.
- Sign any paperwork that needs checking. Create an assignment page and assign associates to certain zones and registers ahead of time.
- Talk to staff about any issues they may have before the store opens. Discuss solutions to any problems.
- Check who has called in sick and make arrangements to cover their shifts for the day.
- Unlock the customer doors when it's time for the store to open to the public. The customers have now arrived.
Tips
- Try to prepare paperwork, computers and music first thing in the shift so that everything runs smoothly.
- It is recommended that you have two or more people to help in the opening shift. This number will rise if your store is larger.
Warnings
- Never audit a cash register with the doors unlocked.
- Always check store for suspicious people before entering and make sure you have a "witness" on standby.
