Agreed, the highest return on investment is training because it touches every customer walking into a brick-and-mortar store. Nothing else comes close.

That said, as I wrote in my recent post 5 Ways Brick and Mortar Retailers Should Prepare For Better Future, you can’t be smug about stated low percentages of online sales. The very methodology is flawed, it’s more like 40 percent of sales are happening online.

The time to train is now, and that’s training on the forgotten soft skills of how to engage a stranger and build rapport which is what I do. Then you can look at how technology can cut out friction in the sales process. Without grabbing the customer’s interest first, no Oculus or AR will prove profitable or worthy.

Good stuff Tom! Your article speaks for itself and really needs no further comment.

One day we’ll realize that technology is a means not an end. And if we’re smart we’ll also, on that same day, realize that it always has been, and always will be, about people. About connections and community. About genuinely caring.

We’ve got to up-end the paradigm of store associate as clothes-folder, inventory-straightener and and checkout clerk, and start seeing them as the face of the brand. Associates need more training, higher wages and a clear sense of empowerment that will engage them fully in the business. Hire smart people, give them a reason to make an impact and the technology tools to reach out across channels, and watch the results.

Totally agree. It seems like such a “duh” — store associates are the biggest advantage brick-and-mortar retail has over clicks — but that “duh” still seems to be mostly ignored.

What makes Starbucks so great? The barista that knows your name. What do you like most about the Apple stores? The helpful employees who solve any problem. Why are the Tesla stores so cool? Amazing associates who are obviously well trained. Who’s bringing the greeter back? Walmart. Why do you think?

On and on. The days of getting away with stack it high and let it fly are clearly over. And just as clear is the message to stop with the gadgets and touch screen mirrors and train the associates!

This question is easy to answer. Why are retailers not investing in tech to help store employees? Because that would require training them and paying them for delivering higher quality service and customer engagement, and otherwise investing in store associates. While I do believe that many retailers have gotten themselves into a vicious cycle where their store ops model is now dependent on low wages and high turnover, I don’t really believe that they actively intended to end up in this place, and it’s clear — the AT Kearney study is just one of many — that it’s a bad place, and not suited for the kind of in-store experience customers currently desire. How to break out of it? Not so easy. Especially when Wall Street brutally punishes the stock of anyone who invests in stores these days. But retailers definitely need to break the cycle. The reason why consumers don’t want to interact with employees isn’t because they LIKE self service. It’s because employees are so unprepared to help the customers of today that… Read more »

Tech solutions such as improved inventory management (RFID, for example) and line management at the checkout lane are actually positive for the customer. Most shopping happens in self-service environments, outside of the most “high-touch” types of stores. And even the Nordstroms of the world can benefit from good replenishment systems.

Where the tech advancement has fallen down lately is the increased emphasis on omnichannel solutions. Tasks such as BOPIS and ship-from-store are also distracting store associates from dealing as effectively as possible with the customers actually shopping in their stores.

It could be that retailers have been signaling to the solution providers that they are trying to reduce the payroll costs in the stores and these solution providers are coming up with self-serve-oriented technology. But with all the rhetoric about customer-centricity and customer service orientation, one would think that technology innovation should also be directed at enabling and empowering the store associate to better interact with, and better serve, the customer who wants help.

We see some such applications emerging. For example, we work with a company — Theatro Labs — that markets a wearable, voice-activated communications device targeted at the store associate which (among many other functions) enables gathering of product information and communication among peers without having to leave the customer’s side. It is this type of solution that can increase the productivity of the store associate while providing the customer with personal attention through the end of the transaction.

When it all boils down to its core, there isn’t too much tech available to help employees. The employee-oriented tech is either going to be a variation on training or access to product/inventory information. What will really help employees, and ultimately retailers, is career building opportunities, real wages and making staff feel valued and needed. The tech tools are secondary.

This discussion is similar to this one.

I think the challenge for many retailers is viewing their associates as part of an overall strategy, not just a necessary expense to operate the physical store. Starting small by focusing on what makes a store associate’s job challenging, which also plays a role in shopper satisfaction, makes sense from a store-tech prioritization standpoint. When the pay is relatively low, I think you need to work especially hard to have employees act consistently as brand ambassadors. So you have to focus as much on the associate’s job satisfaction as on the shopper’s in my opinion.

Reducing human capital and increasing technology investment in the hopes of positively impacting the bottom line is theoretical. Store associate selection, matching personality to the store brand, effective and consistent commitment to training, an equal measure of commitment to clear and timely communication to the store associates and ongoing training yields a positive feeling from shoppers that breeds satisfaction, loyalty and referral. Technology in and of itself is not the answer. That is simply throwing money in the hopes of making a difference, but you need the aspects shared here in order to sustain it. Tablets in the hands of associates with the ability to view the customer profile and apply that insight to truly serve their personal needs — awesome. In time you build trust, overcoming privacy concerns by demonstrating that the mutual sharing of information yields value that is worth the “exposure.” For those customers with a skeptical or protective point of view, no technology solution or data-powered in-store device or dialogue at point of sale can win out. Some brands that rely… Read more »

This is an important issue that forms one of the three legs to the digital transformation stool for retail companies. My employer is all in for helping retailers make this transformation by helping their store associates work smarter by easily accessing enterprise and customer data on mobile devices.

The bottom line is that retailers need to view technology not only as a productivity booster but, more importantly, as an indispensable ingredient in turning their customer interactions into a strategic differentiator. And you can’t do that without making an investment in your people and integrate digital in your future plans not as a passing fad but as a truly transformative opportunity for the business.

Investing in your employees, both in-store technology focused ones and non technology focused ones, is not one of the mantras being sung by retailing leaders each day. Despite the glaring success of Apple Stores, and their robust approach to both training their employees and focusing primarily on customer service, the majority of the retailing world ignores this path to success. The old paradigm of just showing the customer the product (and then making them hunt down someone to help them buy it) is still alive and well because of the old concept that a well-trained, well-staffed team of customer service focused employees is not worth the customers they service. Retailers will continue to fail until they recognize this as one of their primary keys to success.

In the past 10 years, there has been a big focus and investment on self-service tools like self-checkout for grocery and big box hard goods. However, that trend seems to be saturated or dwindling as many retailers have realized that self-service hinders customer engagement. We are seeing a shift in retailers’ focus to investing in associate tools that enable guided selling. According to our 2016 POS survey, 40% of retailers indicated that “empowering associates with mobile tools” was one of their top three customer engagement priorities while only 15% indicated “self-service options” was one of their top priorities. This survey also found that only 14% of retailers currently offer “suggested selling based on previous purchases,” but another 58% plan to offer this within 3 years. Since not all store associates are created equal, a structured guided selling process can turn low-performing associates into high-performing associates. You can segment them into A, B, C and D associates with A being the highest level. The object of a world class guided selling program is to capture the… Read more »