The competition between online and offline retailers is driving many businesses to search for ways to cut back and save pennies. What if we told you that you could do more with less without having to lose valuable associates, sacrifice the quality of your products, or reduce the customer experience?
You can begin to shift the performance of your shop immediately by improving communication, implementing the latest retail technology, and carrying out detailed analysis.
Implementing Effective Floor Communication
Poor floor communication can reduce the overall performance of your store. Not only can it result in apathy amongst your team, but that same bad attitude can then be communicated to your customer.
It pays to be able to effectively communicate with your teams. You can begin to revise or refine your current communications strategy in a few ways.
Centralizing All Store Communications
Assign one person (the manager, in most situations) as the single point of contact for a team. This person will become the communications coordinator who will be responsible for triaging, bundling, and expediting messages as necessary.
Reduce Any Unnecessary Store Communications
The better the quality of the communication the better your overall communication strategy will be. Before an associate asks a question or makes a comment, he or she should ask themselves the following:
- Is the information important?
- Does the information deliver value to the team?
- Is the information concise?
All Communications Must Be Accessible
Your team must be able to easily access what, where, and when communications are sent in a way that is convenient and reduces their time away from the floor. The best way to do this is through technology – such communicating with handheld radios, in-store tablets and smartphones, or through your POS system.
Connecting Customers with Associates Using Technology
In-store technology is revolutionizing the customer experience by providing customers with a way to communicate with associates whether out on the floor or trying on clothes in a fitting room. It improves customer-associate interaction and it makes the interactions between your sales associates and the customer a lot more meaningful.
High tech in retail is valuable for a number of reasons:
- Technology can be used to recognize an individual’s purchase history
- Associates are provided with real-time data about the customer (i.e. demographic information, purchase history, etc.)
- Associates can find out what is and what isn’t in-stock while being provided with realistic alternatives to present to a customer for up-selling or cross-selling
- Customers feel empowered and have a memorable, enjoyable experience
Finding Efficiencies Through Analytics
The digital world is having a major impact on retail, particularly brick and mortar stores. Brands are able to constantly keep in touch with their customers, giving the intuition needed to anticipate a customers’ needs, make themselves more accessible, and improve company/customer interactions.
Analytics in retail delivers real-time insights to stores so that they can make the buying/selling chain more efficient. These technologies can serve many purposes including improving the customer experience, inventory management, employee empowerment, and pricing and fraud management.
See Your Shop Thrive with Retail Technology
Doing more with less does not need to mean scaling back or cutting corners. The answer is to harness what today’s retail technology has to offer so that you can deliver the optimal experience to both your customers and your associates.
