The subject of the store and its future has been top-of-mind for just about everyone involved in any aspect of retail. In a world where a shopper can research, find, and buy products at any hour of the day or night with a couple of clicks on a phone, tablet or full-sized computer, how does the store remain relevant? We’ve asked this question many times and postulate all kinds of conclusions. So it was a real treat to sit in a roomful of Store Operations executives and discuss it with those who work in the trenches. I was lucky enough to help kick-off the inaugural meeting of the Store Operations Council on June 22 in Dallas.

The council is chaired by Sharon Leite, Executive VP of Store Operations for Pier 1 Imports and managed by Cathy Hotka & Associates, whose CIO networking events are legend around the US Retail circuit. This event was more intimate and was rich with content. I’m going to quote from the press release that accompanied the event, because it describes the meeting as well or better than I could.

“Participants discussed a wide range of store operations issues, including core store functions, the customer experience, omni-channel processes, technology innovations, and in-store communications. The Council established a priority list of issues to address going forward, and will meet several times per year to establish best practices and make recommendations.

“Participants discussed a wide range of store operations issues, including core store functions, the customer experience, omni-channel processes, technology innovations, and in-store communications. The Council established a priority list of issues to address going forward, and will meet several times per year to establish best practices and make recommendations.

‘A group of this kind is long overdue,’ said Sharon Leite, the Council’s chair and Executive Vice President of Store Operations for Pier 1 Imports. ‘It is important that the retail industry examine store processes and practices to remain compelling in an online world.’ ‘The industry is undergoing major changes, and it’s in our interest to stay ahead of that’ said J. Smith, Vice President of Information Technology for PETCO Animal Supplies. “

The attendee list was impressive: Sears Holdings, Chico’s FAS, Victoria’s Secret, Hudson’s Bay Company, The Container Store, Express, Pier 1 Imports, RadioShack, JR Watkins Naturals, Sephora, Hibbett Sporting Goods, Zale, PETCO, The Container Stores, and Jeannine Ralston Consulting among others.

I heard some interesting things – some new, some old.

• Compensation Strategies for Cross-channel Fulfillment – One of the attendees reported that one some divisions compensate stores for in-store fulfillment of on-line orders while others do not. However, they see no real correlation between compensation strategies and performance (hmmmm).
• Advanced Labor Scheduling is really Heating Up – At long last retailers are moving beyond the spreadsheets and white boards of decades past to sophisticated labor scheduling tools. And ease-of-use and flexibility seem to be the most desired features.
• Drowning in Data – There was a palpable sense of fear around sending even more data to the stores. Even my favorite story about a former job I had, where we printed a stock status of every sku in the company every Sunday, put it in black garbage bags (note the use of plurals!) and had a taxi deliver it to the CEO’s home in Boston so he could review it before start of business on Monday morning, failed to assuage the fears. One thing is clear: the concept of “big data ” doesn’t warm the hearts of store ops personnel. Delivering pithy meaningful data does. Regardless of the device.
• Everyone loves tablets – Attendees are bullish on tablets for employee training, for mobile POS, and most everything else they need to see in the stores (except that “big data ” thing).
• Combatting Showrooming – apparently price sensitivity is “more real ” than I thought. At least one chain combats that problem with a renewed focus on key item pricing. What that means in their terms is to have the lowest price anywhere (while still making a profit) on the most popular and recognizable items in their stores. Other chains focus on employee training and engagement.
• We REALLY Need Better KPIs – this sort of ties in to many of the points above. We either go too fine with aforementioned Big Data, or too typical, measuring the success of everything by looking at comparable store sales and payroll-to-sales ratios. This has come out clearly in RSR’s reports as well. We need ways to measure the impact of in-store technology initiatives, and some better ways to quantify the impact of adding labor into the store: the causal relationship may not be instantaneous. Some things take time.

Along with the interesting things I heard, I must say I met some really fantastic people. Store Operations folks are seriously smart, clearly aware of the omni-channel challenges they face, and eager for the tools they need to make stores the great places to shop that we remember.

So, all you store ops folks, if you’d like more information on the Store Operations Council, contact Cathy Hotka at cathy@cathyhotka.com. I hope I get invited again, that’s for sure. How often can you say “I didn’t mind missing the first quarter of the Heat Finals because I was having a really good time? “