2018-实体店的功能正在与时俱进_您的员工是否已经做好准备_（英文版）-5mb

Industry Insight Summary: Is Your Frontline Prepared for the Changing Role of the Store?

Core Content

This Industry Insight explores how the role of brick-and-mortar stores in retail is evolving, driven by digital transformation and the need to enhance the customer experience. It emphasizes the importance of empowering the retail frontline workforce with the right tools, training, and incentives to support these changes effectively.

Main Findings

• Stores as brand extensions: Stores are no longer just places to buy products but are becoming integral to a brand's narrative and customer engagement.
• Empowered frontline workforce: Retailers must support their store teams with the right resources to execute customer experience initiatives successfully.
• Customer experience is critical: Over 80% of shoppers have abandoned in-store visits due to poor customer experience, costing the industry $1.6 trillion in switching costs.
• Digital leaders face challenges: Even companies like Starbucks have encountered issues when introducing new digital features without proper frontline support.
• Maturity levels vary: Only 5% of retailers are considered Leaders in frontline empowerment, while the majority fall into Follower or Laggard categories.

Key Recommendations

1. Curate deeper relationships with shoppers

• Connect customer data quickly: Use APIs to provide store teams with real-time shopper profiles (preferences, past orders, online carts).
• Build a customer master database: Centralize customer information to enable personalized and effective in-store experiences.
• Enhance selling tools: Equip store associates with insights to make better product and promotions recommendations.
• Reward cross-channel sales: Incentivize store teams for contributing to sales across multiple channels.

2. Fulfill shopper demand. Anytime, anywhere

• Improve inventory accuracy: Consider RFID technology to ensure accurate tracking of in-store and enterprise-wide inventory.
• Enable unified inventory systems: Move to a channel-agnostic inventory system and evaluate endless aisle capabilities.
• Train and incentivize associates: Focus on upselling and saving-the-sale to improve profitability and reduce labor costs.
• Empower managers: Provide tools to manage increasingly complex labor schedules efficiently.

3. Differentiate through services and experiences

• Recalibrate store team incentives: Align incentives with customer experience goals, not just operational costs.
• Enable comprehensive frontline mobility: Ensure all business applications (ERP, CRM, WFM, etc.) are accessible on mobile devices.
• Offer on-demand training: Support store teams with flexible, specialized training to handle new initiatives.
• Enhance collaboration tools: Use cloud-based platforms to improve communication between store and corporate teams.
• Provide expert support: Enable real-time access to brand experts via unified communication tools.

4. Express your brand and let shoppers express theirs

• Use dynamic task management: Allocate tasks based on priority to ensure the brand experience is maintained.
• Enable cloud-based collaboration: Use productivity suites to improve teamwork and efficiency.
• Support local social media presence: Provide tools for store teams to manage social media while minimizing brand risk.

Key Insights by Dimension

Conclusion

Retailers must move beyond just having a digital strategy and focus on empowering their frontline teams. By providing the right tools, training, and incentives, retailers can transform their stores into powerful engagement platforms that drive growth, enhance customer satisfaction, and differentiate their brand in a competitive market.