Retail is one of the most highly competitive sectors in the business world* – it’s a tough environment, with constant industry changes. Retail trends show that every year increasing numbers of retailers shut their doors for the last time**, impacting hundreds of stores and thousands of employees. Success in retail certainly doesn’t come easy.
What role do staff play in retail success?
Retail staff have a direct impact on sales and profit. Research shows that when staff are engaged and motivated, there are two direct impacts – the first is that the staff will deliver a better customer experience, and the second is that they are more likely to cross sell and upsell. A better experience means customers return more often to the store, and cross sell/upsell activity increases the average transaction size with every visit.
What are ‘frictionless’ processes?
Friction is when a customer feels when they can’t shop as easily as they would like to, and believe they should be able to. It’s relative – for example, before contactless payments, inserting a credit card would not have been seen as friction. But nowadays it is. Or if all websites made shoppers set up an account to check out, that wouldn’t be seen as friction – but if your competitors don’t do this, and you do, then you are seen as creating friction. And shoppers hate friction. The message is that you have to be constantly aware of changes in technology and processes, to ensure that your shopping experience isn’t seen as adding friction.
