Infographic: Workforce Operational Challenges in the Retail Industry

There are some workforce challenges in the retail industry today that retailers need to take into account, such as staff turnover. Employee turnover is one of the main problems for today’s retailers, due to its high labor cost.

There is currently a 67% turnover rate for retail employees, as shown in the following infographic. A very high rate compared to other sectors including banking, health or industry.

This is due to 5 main reasons according to the people in charge of the workforce in the retail sector:

• 38% think that they are asking employees to do too many things
• 30% believe that employees expect flexibility and benefits that they can’t provide
• 27% feel that their labor costs are too high
• 24% say that it is hard to get staff during the hours when they need it most
• 19% think that managers spend too much time on non-value activities

And how can these challenges in retail industry be solved?

The answer is through proper scheduling. Optimally planning the schedules, shifts and tasks of employees. Taking into account their preferences and aiming to maximize the store’s results. Facing the challenges in the retail industry that we have commented above.

More than 60% of retailers believe that workforce management solutions are very important when it comes to managing staff schedules and tasks, although less than 37% have implemented this type of technological solution in their companies. And a much smaller percentage of them use advanced analytics-based solutions that really help to improve store conversion rates.

The good news is that new players are emerging in the WFM solutions market that are applying the most advanced data and Artificial Intelligence techniques. These solutions are able to maximize the conversion rate at any time, aligning the schedules and tasks of employees to the real needs of the store and its potential, without neglecting employee satisfaction and salary cost.