At a time when foot traffic to your lockshop is slow because of the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, is there such a thing as a point-of-purchase/impulse-buy item that might be something your customers really want (besides masks, of course)?
Lucky Line Products believes the answer is “yes,” and it produces its new Touchless Door Opener and Stylus as evidence.
The Touchless Door Opener and Stylus costs more than a key tag but still falls into an affordable price range not far above that of other standard point-of-purchase merchandise. The device is a roughly 4-by-1-1/2-inch piece of brass that resembles a skeleton key and can be used to pull open doors, press elevator buttons and even use on a touchscreen at, say, a grocery-store checkout line without actually touching anything other than the device itself. It comes with a key ring to attach to keychains or backpacks.
Unlike other “touchless” products that have been on the market for some time, waiting for the COVID-19 pandemic to bring newfound interest in them, Lucky Line’s device came directly as a result of the pandemic, according to Samantha Coon, marketing manager with Lucky Line Products.
“We were just trying to come up with new product ideas that would help people out, for our customers,” she says. “We came across this.”
Lucky Line took a design it had seen and adapted it, Coon adds, putting ridges across the top for an improved pulling grip on heavier doors and engraving its website on the side. The brainstorming occurred in March, before states began to issue stay-at-home orders. The product was released at the beginning of May.
“It was quite a rush,” she says.
Although brass has shown to have antimicrobial properties, there is concern that rather than having germs on your fingers, which can be washed or covered with hand sanitizer right away, a device such as the Touchless Door Opener and Stylus could carry germs around for a longer period and cause illness. Coon discounts those concerns.
“You could clean this with hand sanitizer,” she points out. “It’s easier to keep that clean than washing your hands all the time, and you never take this device and put it up to your mouth, as you would your hands.”
She notes that when using the Touchless Door Opener and Stylus, a person touches only one thing—the device itself—rather than door handles at a store or push-buttons at an ATM. Plus the owner of the device is the only one touching the product, compared with an unknown number of door-handle grabbers and ATM button-pushers.
It isn’t a miracle product, after all, but it can reduce risk, Coon says. “It’s just to help people to stay a little cleaner and a little healthier.”
The Touchless Door Opener and Stylus is available through distribution channels, comes with a pouch and can be ordered in packs of five. Separate clip strip and countertop displays hold 12 pouches per strip or 20 pouches per display.
More info: www.luckyline.com
Will Christensen | Senior Editor
Will Christensen is senior editor at Locksmith Ledger International. He has been an editor and reporter at magazines and newspapers for more than 30 years.
