In the world of modern retail, technology is key, mobile plays a major role, and omnichannel is becoming increasingly essential. However, while the role of technology in retail will continue to grow, the employees that work in physical stores will be more important than ever.
Instead of employees being a retailer’s biggest cost, the right employees are a retailer’s greatest asset, as well as a smart investment for their organisation. In this article, we examine 4 key reasons why quality shop floor staff play an essential role in a retailer’s success and complement the technology.
1. Brick-and-Mortar’s Competitive Edge
The unstoppable rise of e-commerce, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a major threat to the survival of physical retailers. You only have to look around your local high street to see that major changes are underway. Big-name brands such as Gap and John Lewis have closed stores because they sense what the future holds for their respective brands. However, there will always be a place for traditional brick-and-mortar stores, and the staff who work in them are the retailers’ number one competitive weapon which online channels cannot compete with.
Why would a consumer visit a store when all the products they will find there are available online?
Because, when they want to test or find out more about the product that they are interested in, the store associates come into play and can enhance the customer’s shopping experience through their knowledge and expertise.
Customers want positive shopping experiences. Today’s consumers are savvy and well-researched about the products they want to buy due to the internet. They know exactly what they want, but human beings crave social interaction. They want to ask questions and share thoughts and ideas with an experienced store associate who is knowledgeable across the product range. They want validation and to feel confident that they have made the right decision.
Positive shopping experiences are fundamental to the success of retail operations, and such experiences are often shaped by store staff. They are the key to retailers’ success. With the right people representing a brand, their efforts create a positive experience for the customer, which increases sales, generates recommendations, and can lead to a more profitable business.
2. Staff are Critical to Omnichannel Retail
As the retail industry continues to adapt to shifting technology trends, experienced store staff are a core component of omnichannel retail. They will have a major role to play in the revitalisation of brick-and-mortar stores during the digital age, as they’ll be responsible for delivering a tailored service across both digital and physical channels. This is because they now have access to, and are expected to sell the entire network of available inventory, rather than only what is in their own store. Also, improved access to information and increased inventory visibility allows store staff to provide personalised interactions and help their company to build customer loyalty.
3. The Human Touch
Much is made of the power of analytics and the appeal of sophisticated robots, but there’s a level of creativity that humans have that can’t be replicated (at least, not yet). However, automation in certain circumstances will produce better results than humans. For example, operational tasks such as tracking inventory should be automated rather than carried out by workers. This would provide retailers with superior data, while providing store staff with more time to assist customers or complete more sophisticated tasks.
On the other hand, you cannot automate the task of assisting a customer who needs help in-store, nor can you automate the process of ensuring that displays look good and fully-stocked – the aspects that constitute a good shopping experience. The ways in which a retailer adds to their store and makes it appeal to shoppers often come from the store staff.
Some believe that sophisticated data systems and robots will reduce the need for store workers, but in fact, the opposite is true. Connections between humans and technology must be stronger – more numerous and more sophisticated.
To make this a reality, retailers must give their staff access to innovative mobile technology that arms them with information while also allowing them to be active and accessible on the shop floor. With access to customers’ order histories and personal preferences, they’ll be able to provide expert knowledge and recommendations to meet customer needs, creating a personalised and memorable shopping experience to which they’ll want to return. Arming store workers with this powerful data would enable physical retailers to rival the online experience. Think about Amazon and how effective its recommendations are. There is no reason why this experience could not be replicated in the physical store setting.
We must remember the power of human connections. As impressive as technological innovation is, the experts have yet to design an algorithm that matches the interpersonal connection of a specialist store worker.
4. The Vital Cog in the Retail Machine
The final reason why store workers are essential is the simplest one. They do the necessary jobs which many take for granted; the tasks which keep a retail operation profitable and ensure that a customer’s basket can be filled with products. The efforts of grocery retail staff during the pandemic have contributed to keeping the nation fed and have highlighted to the public how important store staff are to society.
As mentioned before, store workers answer customers’ product queries and show them where products are located. They are also responsible for keeping the store presentable and safe, restocking products, and serving customers. Like a restaurant without a chef or a pub without bartenders, a store without store workers isn’t a store at all.
Store Staff Must be Valued
Store workers are vital to the retail industry, and they are an asset to their respective organisations. Retailers must value their store staff in the way they value their customers, because trusting and valuing employees means they’ll be more dedicated to serve customers, and the company, well. They are not merely a representation of a brand, a way for retailers to further their brand’s reputation; they are the brand.
RMS is one of the leading providers of merchandising and retail support services in the UK and Ireland. By utilising a nationwide workforce of skilled, flexible merchandisers, supported by flex, our state-of-the-art resource management system, we deploy teams of staff to support retailers across the country.
