Even though stores remain the source of more than 85 percent of retail’s aggregate revenue, they’ve undergone an identity crisis over that past five years. Most retailer growth is coming from digital channels.

The core question has been (and remains), “How can we rejuvenate the in-store experience? “

As ever, it turns out that those who’ve put the most effort into answering this difficult question have already started to pull away from the pack: Retail Winners have already had more success prioritizing their employee work schedules, reporting that the time they spend with customers is far more in line with corporate objectives than that of those whose sales are already hurting (Figure).

This is not happenstance: there is a direct correlation between a purpose-focused store associate and market success.

Figure: Time Well Spent 

Source: RSR Research, June 2014

This does beg the question, however, if lagging retailers’ employees are not spending enough time on the things they – and their customers – think they should to be doing, where then, are they spending their time?

• Laggards are much more likely to report that employees spend too much time on administrative tasks such as corporate paperwork and processes than Winning retailers (50% to 36%, respectively). This is one of the primary means by which Winners continue to push their culture – and their year-over-year sales – forward. They ensure that the revenue generating services are given the time needed for success.
• If we extend this trend one point further, a store environment where the store manager is also freed of administrative tasks, we find a formula whereby not only are employees acting as true brand ambassadors to the shopper, but the store manager is fulfilling a much more effective role as well. He can oversee consumer/associate engagement, fully informed of what’s taking place on the sales floor. We will examine which technologies facilitate this “unshackling ” of both store associate and store manager in the Technology Enablers section of this report.

As it relates to the technologies consumers use, however, which provide the best chance to get shoppers through the front door andmakethe time they spend in-store more valuable?

We invite all Retail Paradox Weekly readers to read our latest Store Report — available by following this link – to find out.