As most parts of the world begin to emerge from the shadow of Covid-19, retail activities in Singapore have improved significantly too, with retail sales growing year over year for eight consecutive months since March 2022.
However, inflationary pressures and labour market tightness could dampen these sentiments, as many retailers struggle to hire and retain workers in an increasingly competitive hiring market.
According to Zebra Small and Medium-Sized Business Industry Lead, Amanda Honig, forward-thinking small business owners are turning to technology to maximise productivity and profits and mitigate challenging market disruptions while elevating the overall shopper experience, even when there are fewer staff on hand.
The impact of staffing shortages on small businesses
It is increasingly clear that the modern store is playing a new role, and retailers are under pressure to keep up. Shoppers are back in stores with heightened expectations for convenience, fulfilment, frictionless experiences, and price sensitivity. In a modern store, associates are the bridge between retailers and shoppers, playing a pivotal role in ensuring shopper expectations are met.
However, Zebra’s latest Global Shopper Study showed that only 74 per cent of Asia-Pacific (APAC) shoppers surveyed are happy with the availability of staff and level of help provided in the stores.
Considering how labour shortages continue to impact retailers, this is a concerning observation. The impact of fewer associates on store floors and back rooms can have adverse effects across a retail operation, especially when technology is not being used to augment headcount or the customer experience.
Compared to their larger counterparts, small businesses are likely to feel a greater impact when it comes to staff shortage as a few employee callouts may result in zero staff availability, and a full store closure, for an entire day. Customer loyalty is also at stake here as consumers can easily turn to another retailer with similar offerings to fulfil their need for convenience.
Hence, forward-thinking small retailers should be making investments in technology to make it easier to manage staff schedules and rebalance workloads when teams are lean and foot traffic is high. Integrating solutions that make customers more self-sufficient in the store can also be highly valuable when there are limited associates available to work each shift.
Seamless collaboration between the back and front of the store
For small businesses, the line separating the front of the store and backroom operations is often blurred, as the limited headcount could mean that associates take on multiple roles concurrently. As such, the right technology can help ensure there is no disconnect between the two functions and increase efficiency when associates switch between the front and back of the store.
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For example, equipping associates with enterprise-class mobile devices can add valuable mobility and transparency to the inventory management process, streamlining workflows as a result. According to the same Zebra study, 49 per cent of shoppers surveyed (64 per cent in APAC, 49 per cent globally) do not complete their intended purchase order due to out-of-stock products.
Implementing such technology will help give store associates on the sales floor insight into what products are available or scheduled for arrival so they can better support customers and ensure items are replenished as soon as possible.
On the retailer’s end, most retailers (84 per cent in APAC, 79 per cent globally) reported that they need better inventory management tools for accuracy and availability, as they acknowledge maintaining real-time visibility of out-of-stock items as a significant challenge.
Bolstered by technology, the overall inventory management process can be less time-consuming and more accurate than processes of the past, which relied on paper and pen to track item locations, sales, and more.
Enhancing front-of-store processes
In addition to back-end inventory management, another way small businesses can add automation and efficiency to its front of store processes to enhance customer experience could be by embracing retail-ready technology solutions such as self-serve kiosks or checkout lanes, rugged tablets with added point-of-sale (POS) modules, or handheld mobile computers with built-in barcode scanners and accessorised with radio frequency identification (RFID) sleds.
Generally, shoppers, retail associates, and retail decision-makers agree shoppers have a better experience when retail associates use the latest technology to assist them. Mobile technology allows associates more time to be on the floor with shoppers with improved service, speed, and convenience.
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For instance, tablets allow associates to easily search for product knowledge and provide a better customer experience by answering questions thoroughly and offering more information about a product instantly and effectively.
When an associate is not available, customers can easily turn to a kiosk for information about inventory styling, sizing, and selection. These kiosks can even be set up to support online ordering while in-store, notify an associate of their arrival for order pickup, or process returns.
Retail-ready technology helps maximise the power of a single associate to meet customer service expectations no matter the disruption. It can also augment the workforce by speeding up onboarding and upskilling, making specific skills easier to learn or transfer when needed.
Meeting the demands of associates
Engaging and retaining a younger workforce can be the ultimate long-term solution to the current labour problem. It is estimated that Generation Z (Gen Z) in particular, born between the late 1990s and early 2010s, makes up 24 per cent of the ASEAN population as of 2021. They will also make up a significant part of the workforce in years to come.
Heading into the future, meeting the demands of younger workers for on-the-job technology will be crucial to improve operations and maintaining a steady, devoted workforce.
Technology has had a tremendously positive impact on the retail experience over the last 15 years and will continue to do so in the future. Fortunately, for most small businesses, retail-ready technologies have become more accessible than ever before to meet the needs and budgets of these retailers. Investment in the right technology is the key to retail agility and resilience for the modern store.
The price of digitalising store operations is nominal when you compare it against the potential costs of a staff shortage. Not only can technology support the shopper experience, but it can also help ensure workers will be available and workflows manageable – two critical components of a successful retail business.
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