A lack of frontline associates, low staffing in stores, overstretched managers, and a customer experience that suffers. While labor shortages are nothing new, the options for managing and overcoming this central challenge have grown more numerous as technology has evolved.
Hourly workers make up more than 40% of the U.S. labor force, but their needs have historically been sidelined in favor of salaried workers, with less consideration given to this group’s career development opportunities, work-life balance, quality of life, and effective learning and training systems.
Technology offers retailers a chance to change this story. Whether through upskilling initiatives, gig-like flexibility, performance and task management systems, or improved safety processes, there’s ample opportunity to turn retail jobs into careers that associates want to commit to for the long haul.
Read on to find out how retailers like Sam’s Club, Walmart, Foot Locker, and more are delving deep into their tech toolkit and providing associates with a more empowered, flexible, and safe working experience.
THE FUTURE OF THE FRONTLINE:
TOP TECH TACTICS FOR EFFECTIVE
RETAIL WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT
By Maia Jenkins
1. First Up: Understand What Workers Want
2. Artificial Intelligence: A Friend (Not a Foe) For Retail Workers?
3. Flexibility (Still) Reigns Supreme – But Not Necessarily in the Way We Think
4. NB: Where Possible, Go Mobile
5. Perfecting The Art of Learning and Development
PRESENTED BY
24%
50%
Source: Harvard Business Review,
The High Cost of Neglecting Low-Wage Workers
Half of retail employers estimate that turnover among low-wage earners was greater than 24% a year, and almost a quarter estimate that it was greater than 50%.
Four in 10 CEOs think their company will not survive more than 10 years without transformation.
Source: PwC, 2023 Hopes & Fears Survey
4
10
“The teammate experience is everything. Engaged teammates are essential for consistent, optimal customer experiences, which translate to customer loyalty. To help our teammates maintain their focus on our customers, it's imperative that we enable them with the technology they need to prioritize their workflows, allowing them more time to put our customers first, which in turn, strengthens teammate satisfaction.”
TOM HENRY
Chief Data and Deputy Chief Information Officer at Schnuck Markets, Inc., speaking at NRF 2024
It’s retail’s most familiar refrain:
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