Investment in technology helps overcome staffing shortages during high demand season

As the pandemic fears fade, in-store shopping has somewhat returned to its pre-pandemic scenario which is quite evident from in-store footfalls this year during the festive season. According to studies, retailers witness 30-45% of additional sales during the festive season. Considering the importance of the festive season for the retail sector, staffing across business verticals becomes critical for the ecosystem players. 

Staffing shortages can have a greater impact on small businesses

The role of the physical store is evolving, but it is still critical to the customer experience. According to a study, shopper interactions across self-serve solutions continue to rise globally with nearly half of shoppers citing they have used self-checkouts, and almost four-in-10 used cashless payment methods. A similar trend is observed in India and other APAC markets whereby self-checkouts are used by 47% of shoppers, while 46% of those surveyed opt for cashless payment methods.

For a large retailer, the consequences of being short staffed may be minimal, limited to shifting employees from the backroom to front of the store for a few hours. However, for small businesses, the impact can be significant and potentially hurt their bottom line, as a few employee call outs may result in zero staff availability – and a full store closure – for an entire day. 

Streamline operations between the back and front of the store 

There is often little delineation between the front of store and backroom operations in a small retail business. The right technology can help ensure there is no disconnect between the two functions and increase efficiency when moving physical items between the front and back of the store. 

Equipping associates with enterprise-class mobile devices can add valuable mobility and transparency to the inventory management process. This technology gives store associates on the sales floor insight into what products are available or scheduled for arrival so they can ensure they are available to receive and replenish items when trucks arrive, and better support customers. It also makes the overall inventory management process less time-consuming and more accurate than processes of the past, which relied on paper and pen to track item locations, sales, and more.

Offer mobile checkout and more 

Small businesses can add automation and efficiency to inventory management, sales, and more 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 accessorized with radio frequency identification (RFID) sleds.

Mobile technology enables a convenient and seamless customer experience, giving employees more tools to assist shoppers in the moment, wherever they are. For instance, with product knowledge in the palm of their hand, retail associates can provide a better experience by answering questions thoroughly and offering more information about a product without leaving the customer’s side. 

Kiosks can also serve as a POS terminal to process transactions more efficiently, while rugged tablets and handheld computers can support associate-managed mobile POS. This can help avoid a situation where a single employee is stuck behind a register while multiple customers in the store need attention. 

Accommodating your associates’ needs

An approach to overcoming staffing shortages is to equip mobile devices with software that helps automate staff scheduling or allows employees to automatically request a replacement when they cannot make a shift. This will make it less likely that only a single employee will be in the store at any point in time. 

Plus, technology adoption can help engage and retain a younger workforce, which is the long-term solution to this current labor problem. Millennials will soon make up about 75% of front-line workers, while Generation Z, born between the late 1990s and early 2010s, is projected to make up 30% of the workforce by 2030. 

Heading into the future, meeting the demands of younger workers for on-the-job technology will be crucial for improving operations and maintaining a steady and devoted workforce. Fortunately, for most small businesses, retail-ready technologies have become more accessible than ever before. There are enterprise-grade devices built for small businesses’ needs and budgets, as well as cloud-based services that make both the hardware and software easy and affordable to deploy and manage. 

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