Retail Store Standards Inspection

Who this is for

The standards walk round a shop, from the pavement in. Each point is marked met or not met with the finding beside it, an owner and a date attached, and the sheet works out how much of the store came up to standard on the day.

Area and store managers, franchise owners, mystery shop and audit teams and independent retailers who want the same walk done the same way in every branch and compared afterwards.

What this helps you track

• Whether the shop met your own standards, point by point, on the day it was visited
• What was not right, in enough detail for the team to fix it before the next visit
• Who owns each fix and when it is wanted by
• The share of points met, so one visit or one branch can be compared with another

How to use it

1. Fill in the store, the manager on duty, the visitor and the date before you go in.
2. Start outside on the pavement and work inwards, in the same order at every branch.
3. Mark each point met, not met or not applicable, and write the finding where it is not met.
4. Give every not-met point an owner and a date; a point with no owner is not a fix.
5. Add your own lines for anything particular to the store — a concession, a cafe, a car park.
6. Sign the sheet with the manager, leave a copy in store and keep the run of them to compare.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Does the sheet set the standards?

No. It names the areas to look at and leaves the standard to you. What counts as a good display or an acceptable stockroom is your brand's business, so nothing is prescribed and no target score is printed.

How is the pass rate worked out?

Points marked met, divided by the points that got either met or not met. Points marked not applicable are left out of both figures, so a store is not penalised for not having a fitting room.

Is this a health and safety inspection?

Not really. There are lines for exits, spills and housekeeping because they are part of store standards, but a proper safety round belongs on a safety inspection sheet and should be done separately.

Can each branch use its own list?

Yes, though comparison gets harder. Most chains keep the printed lines the same for every branch and use the blank lines at the bottom for anything local.