What is the ideal temperature to set in a retail store? Well, it depends on the season.
Although every individual customer may have an individual preference for where the thermostat should be set at any given time, there are general guidelines that a retail store owner can follow to ensure that the most people are comfortable. First of all, consider the season and the weather outside. The same temperature on the thermostat is going to feel very different in the summer compared to the winter. Therefore, setting the same temperature no matter what time of year it is is probably not the best idea in the world. In the winter, it is recommended that the thermostats be set to around 69°. That’s going to feel warmer than you may be thinking if it’s truly frigid outside. In the summer, on the other hand, it’s generally a good idea to keep the thermostat around 73°. These are economical temperatures that also manage to keep most shoppers comfortable. Still, it’s good to listen to feedback from shoppers to see if they are happy with the temperatures in the store. It’s also good to observe them and what they’re wearing when they come in. If there’s an excessive number of people wearing jackets in your store in the summer, for example, it’s probably not a good sign. Alternatively, if people are shedding their layers whenever they come into your store in the winter, you probably need to turn down the thermostat. When it comes to the temperature in your store, the customer is always right!