Teach Your Retail Employees to Draw Customers Back with Enterprise Learning Management System

While technology dependency has been growing in all industries for years now, the face of retail industry changed after Amazon started its multilevel eCommerce business surpassing Walmart. By 2015, consumers had become so internet friendly that brick and mortar stores were facing a crisis quite unknown to their business till date. However, they were still popular because it is intrinsic to human nature to trust their tactile experience more than just audio-visual while making a purchase. Also, buying from a store was always faster than ordering online. But the pandemic changed it all. 85% Americans have said that Covid-19 impacted their shopping habits in some way, including reduced overall spending, increased online shopping, and increased use of delivery services, reported by Statista.

 

But things are taking a brighter turn. While a recent McKinsey reports, 60-70% adults are now omnichannel consumer with both sales in brick and mortar stores and eCommerce growing, an eMarketer survey projects that 81% customers are willing to go back to the store.

 

Growth Market specialist, Bharat Jain at G-Cube suggests, ‘The trends are positive and retail owners should jump to the occasion. Training plays a very important role in this phase of adaptation which will enable the employees to keep up and draw the customers back to the stores.’

 

 

Promoting Your Employees as Brand Ambassadors

 

While the willingness to return to stores is increasing, the affinity towards online shopping is not reducing. Retailers have to step up to encourage the willing customer to take an action and that is possible only by giving them a great experience. As your in-store employees are in charge of the customer experience, this is where your employees can become the true ‘brand ambassadors’.

 

 

Train to be an Expert than a Sales Support

 

A very important part of the online shopping experience is the abundance of information about the product, usage and also comparison charts which is completely unavailable at the stores. Retailers have to fill up this gap by training their employees to become product experts. Providing a continuous learning environment with small nuggets of information based on the category of product they are handling through an automated workflow on the mobile LMS shall help the employees retain knowledge better. The information is also available to them at the point-of-sale where they can not only provide demo of a particular item but compare the features while giving sales advice to the customer.

 

 

In-person Search Optimization

 

While looking for an item on the shopping app, a customer gets choice of both browsing and searching. So basically, they have the option to look through a lot of items and also search for anything specific they want. In a store this search engine is your employee who is helping the customer find the right product. At times, they cannot find the right items while searching manually and this leads to higher waiting time and dissatisfied customer. Integrating your retail management system with your LMS can bring all the information regarding the shelf, storage, and product details in one place which the employees can access with simple keyword search which is far more efficient. This reduces customer’s wait time replicating the online shopping experience helping your retail employees give a great experience to the buyer.

 

 

Keep Your Employees Motivated

 

According to National Retail Federation, the attrition rate in retail in USA is just above 60%, which is very high considering the overall average of 19%. Therefore, keeping your employees motivated to put in the extra effort is essential. An enterprise LMS provides you the opportunity to gamify the learning strategy for your retail employees. With easy integration with multiple business systems, you can give redeemable points to the employees based on their real-time KPI data, create leaderboards, and track the star performers. Getting recognized for one’s effort always makes them put in some extra.

To ensure the above you will have to invest significantly in developing and delivering training programs that can inculcate these habits and behaviours. However, that is not the final step, as the learning content has to be distributed along with follow-up trainings. Assessments and post-training support has to be delivered as well. To manage such a mammoth operation a learning management system which is equally effective on all the devices and is configurable to adapt to your organization’s culture is necessary.

 

 

G-Cube Learning Management Suite is being used by top retail industry players with positive results. To know more about the implementation strategies, write to us at info@gc-solutions.net and talk to a learning consultant.

Choosing E learning Over Traditional Training

Whether you manage a warehouse or an online retail store, e learning leaves a significant impact on knowledge retention, customer satisfaction, and business productivity. The new-age employees want to access information that is personalized, just-in-time, and accessible. Therefore, most of the retail organizations are shifting towards increasing productivity and business ROIs through technology-driven learning. Most organizations adopt e learning as a significant aspect of training & development processes.

Why is Traditional Training Not Effective Enough?

With changing market dynamics, retail companies are shifting their focus towards improving optimal quality products and flawless customer experience. A viable way to achieve this is through e learning. Several reasons why traditional classroom-based approach could not go well for retail workforce training include:

• Continuous change

There is a constant update on the products and services delivered by retail organizations. The traditional method to train the workforce on product inventory and features is a time-consuming process, especially whenever there is any seasonal update. Consequently, employees fail to engage and retain for long, thereby affecting the overall business sales.

• High attrition

The retail sector faces a higher level of attrition as compared to other industries. Therefore, companies conduct employee onboarding programs at regular intervals that involve recurring costs, time, and effort.

How does E-learning help to Train Retail Workforce?

Today, e-learning is dominating the retail industry by evading challenges of classroom-based training- be it cost, accessibility, or convenience. Keeping the workforce abreast of new consumer products, services, and policies is key to organizational success. Enterprise e learning enables employees to undergo training on-demand, bridge skills-gaps, and improve sales. Several effective e learning solutions that cater to the retail sector training needs include the following:

• Mobile-aided learning

The delivery of personalized training content on bespoke mobile devices enable learners to learn anytime, anywhere, and on the go. Several retail companies create e-courses on specific products and services which employees can access to hone their skills and meet customer expectations.

• Video-based learning

Companies also create and deliver short video nuggets that are easy to access and quick to digest. Consequently, employees learn more, engage better, retain for long, and stay productive at the workplace.

• Simulations

Considering the need to train the salesforce in an immersive environment effectively, companies adopt a simulation-based approach. As a result, sales employees can access 360-degree videos and simulations to learn about new product features and benefits, thereby fostering customer relations, driving sales, and overall business productivity.

• Compliance training

For retail enterprises, there are several risks involved, such as risk management, workplace safety, safety hazards, and others. So, online training on regulatory compliance aids companies to comply with changing policies and enhance their brand presence in the market.

With technological advancements, retailers adopt e learning approach, which is flexible enough to cater to the pertinent training needs- be it onboarding, compliance, sales enablement, leadership training, and more.

Highlighting Top Benefits of E Learning

Highlighting Top Benefits of E Learning: Saving Costs, Boosting Engagement, Increasing ROIs, and More

Modern learners absorb information in different ways and at their own pace. Online corporate training imparts a flexible system which perfectly aligns learning to pertinent needs. Furthermore, when e-learning blends with classroom-based training, the results can be lucrative. Most organizations are leveraging the benefits of e learning to optimize workforce engagement, knowledge retention, and training ROI.

Many studies based on utilizing e learning portal indicate that modern workforce learns better through online instruction in comparison to classroom sessions. Learning associated with e-learning includes knowledge, interaction, and training procedures. There is a broad spectrum of advantages of e-learning, which include:

• Self-paced approach

One of the most significant advantages of online learning is the ability to learn anytime, anywhere, and on any mobile device. You can access online courses on your personalized mobile device, while at home, in office, or on the go.

• Reduced costs

Unlike traditional classroom training approach, which involves huge costs associated with travel and infrastructure, e-learning serves as a viable choice. With technological advancement, the availability of training content across smartphones and tablets boost overall learner interaction, reduce costs, and increase business ROIs.

• Instant feedback

Organizational managers include quizzes and assessments to analyze the performance of employees during a training program. Based on the scores earned by individuals, managers provide immediate feedback which can drive organizational performance, bridge skills-gaps, and attain success.

• Game-based learning

Games in e-learning ensure an engaging training delivery by including badges, scores, levels, leaderboards, and more. These gaming elements engage and encourage learners to undergo training, earn scores, reach the next level on the leaderboard, and stay competitive.

• Measurable

Measuring the impact of corporate training through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is one of the significant benefits of e learning. The robust e-learning systems integrate with enterprise systems (HRMS, CRM, ERP, etc.) to collate KPI data and create performance metrics for individuals. Based on the KPI data, the system aligns e-learning courses as per the personalized needs of targeted audiences.

Undoubtedly, delivering effective corporate training is tedious, but a necessity for the majority of organizations. The text-based content is boring and lacks maximum employee participation. Several benefits of e learning from saving costs and incorporating games to delivering personalized learning and measuring performance, enable businesses to stay ahead of the curve. The overall training impact results in improved engagement, reduced costs, greater accessibility, increased ROIs, and workforce performance. Online learning is effective in a way it aligns to pertinent training goals- onboarding, sales, soft skills, compliance, and much more.