Retailers have the same end goal as any other business – to make money. But the retail environment is different. Your business model requires a greater emphasis on productivity. Your mission is to maximize sales while minimizing investments in inventory, space, people, and time. The best way to do that is to increase your retail operation’s efficiency.
Though there is much to be said about inventory management, effective utilization of space, and the impact of mobile applications on sales, technology is what drives productivity most today. A technologically savvy staff that is well-trained and fairly compensated is a retailer’s most valuable asset.
Here are some tips on how focusing on employee enablement and advocacy can boost retail productivity and help you beat the competition.
Invest in Your People
Multiple studies of successful retailers have shown that they have one thing in common. A higher investment in employees leads to higher profits. It also leads to better customer service that inspires brand loyalty and excellent operational metrics.
Cutting employee wages or reducing time and money spent on training is a mistake. While it may be a tempting way to help grow your bottom line short-term, a Wharton School study conducted in 2012 found that “every dollar in additional payroll led to somewhere between four and twenty-eight dollars in new sales.”
Equally important is employee recognition. Make sure that you are regularly acknowledging and rewarding outstanding performance. Try encouraging peer-to-peer recognition as well. Not only does a recognition-rich retail culture boost morale and improve engagement, but it also significantly decreases turnover.
Constantly finding and hiring new employees is a huge time sink, requiring money and uptime that many retailers cannot afford.
Provide Employees with Better Tools
Far too many retail businesses lose productivity due to legacy systems. Not having the right tools drains resources. Valuable time and human capital is wasted when your point-of-sale technology is slow, for example. Reporting or analytical capabilities are compromised; it takes too long to search for documents, or worse. A study conducted by Intel showed that almost 100 more hours or productivity were gained per employee per year, simply by providing them with mobile notebooks. Use the knowledge to your advantage. Invest in state-of-the-art tools to optimize productivity and profitability.
Speed Up Systems & Backup Times
Retailers carry a heavy amount of data. Lengthy backup times and document searches due to poor indexing practices or high data volumes represent an enormous drain on productivity. Information is too frequently stored in separate silos. Low-priority information is needlessly stored on primary servers. Processing speeds and reporting capabilities suffer as a result. It is an endless cycle.
File archiving software like ShareArchiver was designed to fix this issue. Our smart data storage solution can be seamlessly integrated into your existing systems to provide centralization of data. This streamlines data storage, speeds up backup times, improves your organization’s data security and disaster recovery options, and reduces storage costs.
With our intuitive search capabilities, your employees can focus on the job at hand. There’s less frustration and stress. Productivity soars, giving you a real competitive advantage.
Interested in learning more? Contact us today to set up an appointment with one of our consultants or get a free trial and see how it works first-hand.
