The retail sector, by definition, is any business or individual who is involved with selling products directly to consumers. With such a big focus on the consumers, internal communications within retail can often go very wrong. In 2017 the retail sector employed 2.9 million people but yet had one of the highest employee turnover rates. What can businesses do to turn these statistics around?
Digital workspaces are becoming increasingly important, the retail sector is not exempt from this change. In a study by Microsoft and Forbes, they found that 48% of organisations reported that Firstline workers aren’t digitally connected. With the retail sector often being made of up roles situated over different geographical locations, successful internal communications are vital. Even more so because for a retail business to be successful, they need to have happy customers. The way in which front line retail employees interact and communicate with customers will be directly affected by how communication is carried out from the top down. So how can a digital workspace solution, such as Fresh, help improve this.
Mobile Friendly
With the vast majority of the retail workforce not being based in front of a computer screen, other methods are needed to ensure important messages reach the first line workers. Having an employee app which can be optimised for the mobile channel is crucial. Important updates can be sent in real-time, with a push notification making them unmissable.
Personalised Home Page
You have gone through the process of creating your organisations digital workspace, what is the first page your employee’s will be greeted with when they log on? The home page of course! This is point at which you have to capture the employee’s interest. No one wants to log on to find a ton of information which holds no relevance to their daily working life. An intelligent home page can be personalised to show relevant information tailored to geographical locations or even job titles.
News Hub
How many emails which are meant for store wide distribution only make it as far as the store managers inbox? Whether they get missed amongst a full inbox or simply deemed not important enough to be passed down the line, this is situation happens far too often. With employees working various shift patterns it’s not always easy for managers to conduct briefings with the floor staff. So what is the solution? Having a central news hub in your digital workspace means that information such as discontinuation of product lines, store events and more, are all easily accessible to employees. This transparency and direct communication ensures that employees feel like they are valued are being kept in the loop. It prevents important information being passed along verbally through the grapevine, which often leads to a Chinese whisper like effect causing miscommunication. Well informed employees will present a knowledgeable front to the customers, a great consumer experience can have a huge impact on return custom.
Integrations
When employees are predominantly based on the front line, on the shop floor, training opportunities are hard to come by. An efficient digital workspace allows for 3rd party application integrations. This brings everything an organisation is using together in one place. Integrations combined with mobile device compatibility could make training programmes a lot easier to create and monitor.
Translation Tools
Workforces can be split across various geographical locations or speak a number of languages. An effective digital workspace platform, such as Fresh, has tools built in to translate into a number of languages. This ensures clear communications across the whole organisation.
It’s vital to get internal communications right, retail markets are growing ever competitive and all it takes it one bad experience for a customer to make the decision to shop elsewhere. As Richard Branson once said “Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients.”
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”Free eBook: Your Digital Workspace Guide” style=”3d”]In this guide we look at the core components in a modern digital workspace, how to define an implentation strategy, creating a structured approach to change management and more. Gain all of the knowledge you need to prevent your workspace become outdate and inefficient.
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