As businesses and schools seek to bring people back to brick and mortar establishments, it’s going to be important to make customers, students and teachers feel comfortable, in addition to simply following guidelines. Customers are going to have to feel that it’s worth going out, versus shopping on-line. For retailers, that comfort might in part be derived from visible occupancy monitoring efforts and automated voice-down messages when people aren’t wearing masks or keeping their distance.
We’ve seen how some businesses have closed all entrances but one and stationed employees outside the store to screen and count customers wishing to come inside. It’s a costly use of employee resource, it risks confrontation, the counting can be highly inaccurate, and it doesn’t exactly welcome people with open arms. Banks, many of which offer online services, have even less traffic, so having an employee screening the few people who still require walk-in services is a poor use of their limited resources. Having multiple entrances at the premises only compounds the problem.