Creating great experiences for employees and the customers they serve
Martina Klenkhart
Go-to-Market Lead for Retail and Consumer Goods Industries, Microsoft Western Europe
Retail is experiencing ongoing labor shortages in the aftermath of the pandemic. Many people have retired early, found new jobs, or have simply decided to leave the labor market. As competition for skilled and experienced staff has become fiercer, attracting talent and retaining staff is crucial for survival and success.
While increasing wages and benefits is important, this alone will not be enough to win back frontline talent. We believe that empowering your store associates is the key. Digital technologies can help to simplify and automate basic in-store tasks, manage work schedules and shift changes more easily, and engage and include your frontline staff fostering a sense of belonging and purpose. This drives job satisfaction and employee retention as well as exceptional customer service, customer loyalty and revenue growth.
The human touch is the competitive edge in the retail sector. Ensuring your retail workforce remains engaged, energized, and productive is more important than ever. The most successful retailers are those that offer excellent customer service in every touchpoint, and where store workers can make impactful decisions that solve customers’ problems and improve operations. Putting the right data, insights, and tools into the hands of your store managers and associates is the most effective way of empowering your staff. We see conversion rates increasing by 15% and customer satisfaction by 10% on average.
Blue Yonder’s Workforce Management solution has helped Marks & Spencer to decrease the complexity of managing daily shifts for store associates and store managers. The solution provides labor forecasts to help optimize staff schedules to trade patterns and to make sure Marks & Spencer is best equipped to service its customers. Employees can surface their shifts directly in Teams, and easily self-service on scheduling and swapping shifts.
New Black has helped Rituals to provide seamless shopping experiences with its EVA Unified Commerce Platform as a Service for POS & OMS. This has made it possible for store associates to provide differentiated customer service and advice, and to engage customers in new ways that promote easy, ongoing upsell.
A forward-thinking and engaged workforce will help a retailer to delight customers in real-time, by eliminating unnecessary delays when solving problems or providing service. It will also help staff to feel trusted and empowered, giving them a greater feeling of belonging.
