The Duty Free World Council Academy (DFWCA) has launched a training course providing frontline sales staff with guidelines on how to ensure their own safety and that of their customers.

Free of charge to all industry stakeholders, the online course contains important guidelines for all staff in retail outlets, as duty and tax free stores continue to reopen worldwide.

Companies with staff working in airport stores are encouraged to roll out the course to all frontline retail staff.

‘GOOD PRACTICE AND WIDELY ACCEPTED’

Retailers and suppliers can obtain company-specific registration, allowing them to monitor the extent of participation by their staff.

The course, which takes around 15 minutes to complete, has been developed based on the DFWC Retail Operations Recovery Protocols. The protocols sets out best practice for retailers and their staff on the safe re-opening of duty and tax free stores, while the course demonstrates how they can be implemented in the DF&TR environment.

Domestic legislation must be followed, but the basic principles expressed in the protocols are deemed ‘good practice and widely accepted.’

Sarah Branquinho, President, DFWC (left) said: “Welcoming customers and colleagues back to our stores safely is of the utmost importance. Consistent application of fundamental protective measures across duty and tax free retail locations will be essential to restore customers’ confidence that they can shop in safety.

“We are delighted to provide the course free of charge to the industry and again thank all those companies who contributed to developing the Protocols.”

Derek Hughes, Managing Director, Institute of International Retail, which is the educational partner of the DFWC Academy, says the short course would help reassure employees and travellers that the industry has a consistent approach globally to best practice protocols at retail outlets.

All organisations with frontline staff in DF&TR stores are encouraged to avail themselves of the course and ensure staff know how to safely return to work and welcome customers in a safe store environment.

The Institute of International Retail is partnering with TRBusiness and m1nd-set as part of comprehensive  educational insights programme at TRMarketplace, the first industry-wide digital forum.

For more information on TRMarketplace, click here.