Take Care of Your Employees and They will Take Care of your Customers

 

It has long been known that the brands that treat their employees well also provide the best customer service. This happens regardless of whether the employees are in production or work in the customer service centre. The extra effort can mean the difference between closing a sale and losing a customer for life.

New quarantine-driven retail models combined with existing technology to automate and streamline business processes have added complexity. Not only have employees in stores and call centres had to change the way they work, but many skilled retailers have been laid off due to the pandemic and are now reassessing their careers as they are also more in demand.
Dealing with change
How can retailers bring all three together as retail trends return to normal?

First, accept that online shopping, which was already on the rise before the pandemic, will remain a popular and effective option. Curbside or in-store pickup options are also popular with customers, especially for electrical items or groceries. Online sales advice and remote presentations by store staff can also remain in place.
However, retailers had to rethink the roles of their employees, which required them to take on new responsibilities with resilience and flexibility.To retain the best employees in a competitive market, retailers need to offer more than good salaries and benefits; They also need to run a digital operation that empowers their people with the right tools, data, and information to help them connect with customers and exceed their expectations.

This means retailers need to run their store operations as smoothly as possible and increase productivity. This can include the delivery of AI-enabled real-time applications such as mobile scheduling, shift trading/bids, task management, and real-time communication tools and apps.

Introduction of digital workplaces
The pandemic has shown just how dependent retailers and consumers are on the work of store and contact center associates and how important they still are for safe and efficient customer service. It also showed that retailers who had already invested in digital transformation were in a much better position to transform their business than those who had not.

After years of underinvestment, many retailers are catching up to equip their employees to deliver a quality retail experience and to put efficiency and opportunity at the forefront of their strategy. A third of retailers who participated in the 2021 Gartner CIO survey say they plan to increase spending on digital workplaces.

First steps towards employee participation
In our experience with retailers, the best way to start is by identifying and investing in the features that have the greatest potential to impact the store manager and staff experience, such as: B. Intelligent automation to increase productivity and planning accuracy.

Finally, working closely with store operations and store managers helps to assess the link between asset management and end-to-end retail business processes, including merchandising, distribution operations and retail order fulfilment.