Why the Omnichannel Employee Experience Matters for the Retail Customer Experience

Mobile Technology Isn’t Only About Making Retail Easier for the Customer  

Theomnichannel employee experience must be considered when investigating omnichannel adoption in retail. If the goal is to provide the best experience possible for customers, then retailers must do everything they can to: 

• Retain the associates serving consumers on the sales floor 
• Give employees the tools to do more with less manpower on hand 
• Provide support to make every interaction feel seamless and effortless 

Omnichannel retail is about integration between distribution operations and shopping channels to meet the customers where they shop. Failure to do so leaves retailers implementing a multichannel strategy instead — missing the mark of what consumers are looking for today and falling behind the competition.  

But even with a commitment to omnichannel strategy, the technology to make it possible and the right unified endpoint management (UEM) partner to bring it all together, you’ll still be facing an uphill battle without accounting for your most important  —and hardest to keep — asset: your employees. 

Keeping enough skilled labor on hand to enhance customer experiences was a challenge for all retailers in 2022. The sector has always had a high turnover rate — the industry averaged 58% over the last five years for employees and associates. How can retail organizations improve the omnichannel employee experience to maximize associate retention and simplify employee onboarding? Start by taking stock of how your team uses the technology available: 

• Are you missing key elements — e.g. network solutions or mobile devices? 
• Is your team actually equipped to support omnichannel? 
• If your team is equipped with mobile technology, do they know how to use and get the most out of those devices? 

Want a Better Omnichannel Employee Experience? Go Mobile

Remember, employee satisfaction is more important than ever. Retail labor shortages were prevalent in 2022, and many retailers became lodged in an endless onboarding loop — constantly training up new employees only to see them leave shortly thereafter. Improving the omnichannel employee experience — through the adoption of mobile technology and a proven third-party partner — can attack the problem through multiple vectors. 

1. Improve Employees’ Day-to-Day Experiences 

• Cutting-edge devices provide multiple-use capability, relieving the mental and physical bloat of handling several mobile devices at once 
• With the right OS and applications, their daily workload can be simplified and streamlined 
• Omnichannel training and support services ensure your tech is working as intended and associates are able to maximize their use

2. Easy-Mode Onboarding 

• Younger workers tend to be more familiar with mobile devices and their capabilities, consolidating the time needed to train or learn to use them
• Simplified, streamlined mobility solutions ease and shorten the onboarding process — key with the amount of retail turnover; intuitive interfaces mean new associates can get up to speed quickly 

3. Make the Most of What You’ve Got 

With mobile technology, retailers will improve the omnichannel employee experience. This leads to increased worker retention and smooths out the onboarding of new employees — both of which help mitigate labor shortage issues.  

But through the adoption of technology and omnichannel training to support it, retailers are positioned to handle labor shortages when they do occur. Enterprises today should outfit ‘smart’ associates with one device that serves as a communication link for the employee, locates items and answers customer questions, provides point-of-sale capabilities, serves as mobile printers, and more. You may not have as much staff as you want, but they’ll be equipped to deliver the customer experience required today.   

Make the Right Choice: From OS support and available features to deployment and ongoing management, learn how to evaluate UEM platforms to find the right fit. 
 

Work with the Best to Elevate Your Omnichannel Employee Experience 

Managing the different aspects of implementing an omnichannel retail strategy sounds overwhelming, but with TRG it doesn’t have to be. We tackle every angle of omnichannel and retail — going beyond what you thought was possible — to deliver complete digital transformations of current operations, calm-inducing ongoing support, and headache-relieving mobility kitting and deployment services. 

If you’re unsure about where to go to ramp up your omnichannel efforts or plot your next steps, relax — we have it covered. Get in touch with us now, and we’ll help you outline a chess-level strategy for omnichannel with checkers-like simplicity. If you’re more inclined for face-to-face interaction (we may deal with screens but we love meeting people, too!) then set up a meeting with our team at retail’s biggest show of the year — NRF 2023.