taking the pulse of store...
TRANSCRIPT
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations
Sponsored by
A
Survey
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 2
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………..………3
Employee Hiring/Retention……….........4
Budgeting for Store Operations…….....5
Mobile Technology………………………6
Cross-Channel Challenges………….…8
Respondent Demographics…………...10
About Retail TouchPoints……………....11
About Sprint………………………………11
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations
Survey Report
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 3
Store operators are faced with numerous challenges, from employee hiring to product
merchandising. As competition continues to heat up, along with pressure to hold the line on
expenses, store operations executives are faced with an uphill battle.
Advances in mobile and tablet technology have created the opportunity to hire, train and
retain employees more efficiently. But are retail companies making the investment in these
technologies?
In its inaugural Store Operations survey, Retail TouchPoints found out that retailers are getting
smarter about their store operations investments. A significant number of retailers are increasing
their investment in Mobile Technology (36.7%), Product Merchandising (36.7%), and Employee
Training (34.7%), although their overall store operations are decreasing in many cases (46.9%).
The Retail TouchPoints Store Operations survey, titled: Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations, was
designed to uncover the most pressing issues facing store operators, including questions around:
• Employee hiring, training and retention
• Product merchandising and inventory management
• The HQ-store connection
Store operators can use the results from this survey to assess and reassess their current store
operations strategies. We are pleased to share the results with you.
Debbie HaussEditor-in-ChiefRetail TouchPoints
Exclusive Survey: Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 4
The highest percentage of respondents (23.1%) ranked Employee Hiring/
Retention as the number-one challenge, although a majority (64.0%)
say they have an effective employee training and retention program
already in place. While an additional 14.0% state they plan to implement
an employee training and retention program in the near future, 22.0%
have no plans to implement.
Generally, retailers are equally concerned with a variety of store
operations challenges, from Employee Training, Hiring and Retention to
Product Merchandising and Communicating with HQ. Between 19.5%
and 23.1% of respondents ranked Employee Training, Employee Hiring/
Retention, Communicating with HQ and the Overall Store Operations
Budget as number-one challenges in 2012.
Employee Retention is a much-discussed topic, with retail and other
company executives weighing in on tactics and strategies. One retail
company, Whole Foods Market, led by CEO John Mackey, has been
applauded for its employee programs and structure.
Mackey functions on the notion that people interact and flourish
in smaller teams as part of a larger organization. This model allows
individuals to combine talents and support one another, as reported in a
Johnson & Wales case study. Each store is divided into small teams that
make decisions about everything from what gets stocked on the shelves
to who gets hired as a team member, and as far as the overall design of
the store.
Communicating with HQ creates the least concern among 39.6% of
respondents, while 20.8% ranked it as a number-one concern.
What are your greatest store operations challenges in 2012?
(Rank 1-5; 1 being the greatest challenge)
Employe
e Trai
ning E
mployee H
iring/
Retention
Overal
l Sto
re
Oper
ations B
udget
Product
Mer
chan
dising/
Invento
ry M
anag
emen
tCommunica
ting with
HQ
Employee Hiring/Retention Garners Significant Attention
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 5
It appears that retailers are becoming smarter and more efficient
with the store operations budgets. While survey respondents reported
that they have increased budgets for Mobile Technology (36.7%),
Product Merchandising (36.7%) and Employee Training (34.7%), a
large majority note a decrease in the Overall Store Operations Budget
(46.9%) for 2012.
A majority of store operators have either increased or maintained
their investment in Mobile Technology (89.8%), highlighting the
growing importance of mobile strategies aimed at arming store
associates with mobile devices and delivering mobile applications
and services to shoppers.
While 42.0% of survey respondents already have armed their store
associates with mobile technology, an equal number of survey
respondents (42.0%) have not. Another 16.0% are planning to add
this capability in the near future.
Product Merchandising also continues to receive a strong focus from
retailers, with 73.4% either increasing or maintaining their budgets in
this area.
Has your overall store operations budget increased, decreased or stayed the same in
2012, in each of the following categories?
Budgeting For Store Operations Management
Employe
e Trai
ning
Employe
e Rete
ntion
Overal
l Budge
t
Product
Merc
handisi
ng
Inven
tory
Man
agem
ent
Mobile
Tech
nology
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 6
Improving customer satisfaction is a top priority for retailers across all
areas of the business. When it comes to mobile technology, Increasing
Customer Satisfaction is the primary benefit of arming store associates
with mobile devices (63.4%).
Providing mobile devices for store associates also helps with
employee retention, with 51.2% of respondents stating that it
Improved Employee Morale.
How have you benefited from arming store associates with mobile technology?
(check all that apply)
Benefits Of In-Store Mobile Technology
Improved Employee
Morale
Increased Upsells and Cross-Sells
Increased Average
Dollar Sale
Increased Customer
Satisfaction
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 7
Other bottom-line business benefits from providing mobile devices to
store associates includes Increasing Average Dollar Sale (31.7%) and
Increasing Upsells And Cross-Sells (29.3%)
For the most part, at this time store associates are using mobile devices
to provide Product Availability (69.2%) and other Product Information
(65.4%) to shoppers. Associates also use mobile technology to Order
Out-of-Stock items (42.3%) and complete a purchase with Mobile
Payment (23.2%).
What functions are store associates performing using mobile technology?
(check all that apply)
Product Availability
Product Information
Online Ordering Of Out-Of-Stock
Products
Mobile Payment
70%60%50%40%30%20%10%
0%
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 8
Recently, retailers have been struggling with creating and delivering
consistent cross-channel strategies. One of the most sensitive topics with
shoppers is pricing. Armed with their own mobile devices, consumers
are not only comparing competitors’ prices, but they also are looking
at a specific item price from one channel to another. Different pricing
online versus in-store is confusing for consumers and may drive them to
abandon the purchase and the brand altogether.
With that knowledge in hand, many retailers are working toward
providing a consistent pricing experience across all channels. More than
half (56.1%) of survey respondents reported that they offer consistent
pricing across all channels; and 26.8% noted that they offer consistent
pricing across some channels; and 2.4% are planning to implement. Still,
14.6% of retailers surveyed still do not offer or plan to offer consistent
pricing across channels.
Does the store offer consistent pricing with all other channels?
Cross-Channel Challenges
No 15%
Yes, across some channels 27% Yes, across all
channels 56%
No, but planning to implement
2%
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 9
Another difficult issue for cross-channel retailers is deciding how the
credit for sales is aligned. The majority of retailers (58.5%) have not yet
decided to give stores credit for online or other-channel purchases.
Other retailers have implemented some form of cross-channel credit:
Does the store get credit for other channel sales (check all that apply)?
give the store credit for online/mobile sales picked up in store;
give the stores credit for online/mobile sales ordered in-store and mailed to customers; and
give stores credit for online/mobile sales ordered in-store and picked up in-store by the customer.
Yes, for online/mobile sales picked up in-store
Yes, for online/
mobile sales ordered
in-store and mailed to customer
Yes, for online/
mobile sales ordered
in-store and picked up in-store by customer
No, only get credit for items
purchased in the physical
store
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 10
Annual company revenue also ran the gamut:
Survey respondents hailed from a variety of retail segments. Breakdown is as follows:
Respondent Demographics
Spec
ialty
Softgo
ods
Spec
ialty
Hardgo
ods
Depart
ment S
tore
Big Box
Conven
ience
Store
Super
market/
Groce
ryEle
ctronics
Other
Less
than
$50M
$50M
-100M
$100
M-$5
00M
$500
M-$1
B
More
than
$5B
$1B- $
5B
18%16%14%12%10%
8%6%4%2%0%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Taking The Pulse Of Store Operations: A 2012 Retail TouchPoints Survey 11
About Retail TouchPoints
Retail TouchPoints is an online publishing network for retail executives, with content focused on optimizing the customer experience across all channels. The Retail TouchPoints network is comprised of a weekly newsletter, category-specific blogs, special reports, web seminars, exclusive benchmark research and a content-rich web site featuring daily news updates and multi-media interviews at www.retailtouchpoints.com. The Retail TouchPoints team also interacts with social media communities via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
411 State Route 17 South, Suite 410Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07604
P: 201.257.8528F: [email protected]
About Sprint
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 56 million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.