Personal touch is key to success

The coronavirus pandemic has forced many shops in Bunbury to shut their doors to the public and alter the way they do business.

Popular clothing boutique Life and Soul was among the first in Western Australia to introduce private appointments.

Coming from a retail background, shop owners Sally Hutchinson and Shelley Burrows saw the effect the virus was going to have on business and implemented an immediate plan of attack.

“Things were getting quite scary and as parents we started to question if we were doing the right thing by keeping our doors open,” Ms Burrows said.

“When we made the decision to close our doors we had a plan in place to focus on our online sales and that has worked really well for us.

“We try to make any connection we have with our customers as personal as we can and introduced private shopping appointments as a way for them to browse or purchase items in store whilst adhering to social distancing rules.”

Ms Hutchinson said she was taken back by the support from the community.

“The amount of people that came in to check up on us and make sure the store closure was only temporary was overwhelming,” she said.

“We are trying to do all that we can to make sure the Bunbury community doesn’t see another empty shop front.”