It’s official – store employees are now the number one challenge retailers see to returning their stores to its place of relevance in the brave new world; one where customers can shop any way, and in any channel they please – with or without a store visit.

We’ve been talking about the pressing need for better educated and technology-armed store associates for years now, and for anyone who attended this year’s NRF big show, the topic was certainly the talk of the show floor. But ever since we’ve been conducting a “state of the store ” report, partner Paula Rosenblum and I have seen retailers consistently report that improving customer service – while vigilantly holding the line on payroll costs – has been the top challenge retailers face in their stores. This is no longer the case.

Our current store survey is still open (and we do invite you to take just a few minutes to weigh in if you haven’t already), but as we near a quorum of respondents, for the first time ever, the number one challenge retailers self-identify is the “need for more consistent store execution/employee productivity. ” Quite simply, the customer’s rapid adoption of smart technologies has rapidly, rapidly lessened her tolerance for fumbling, bumbling store associates whose assistive worth is easily upstaged by 30 seconds of time spent with an iPhone.

What does this mean for payroll costs? Have retailers reached a tipping point where investment back into the sales force is not only inevitable, but should be embraced as a means to differentiate stores – and the overall need for a store experience as part of your brand’s paths to purchase – from those of competitors? After all, the massive investments to operate stores have already been made, and stores can’t simply go away – what are the moves that the best performers are making to ensure that their investment in a better more helpful/productive/consistent workforce is successful, and not a case of throwing good money after bad? And what about the re-emergence of price as an important customer concern – how is this playing out in store strategy this year?

We’ll be answering all of these questions (and more!) in our annual report when it releases in early May, and we do really hope your input is included in the findings.