Retail Operations
17 August 2022
The Complete Guide to Retail Operations Technology: 4-stage information series to build an effective business case for investment in the future of your store estate
From spotting the opportunities it creates to building a business case and getting an implementation timeline.
Welcome to the first part of a 4-part series that helps you understand Retail Operations Technology and the benefits it can bring to your store estate.
We’ve listened to retail operations professionals and understand that sometimes the toughest part of installing Retail Operations Technology in a store estate is winning backers in their organisations and creating a compelling business case.
Which is why we’ve put together ‘Building a Business Case’ – to help retail operations professionals sell internally.
This information series will help you:
Stage 1: Spotting the modern brand’s Retail Operations opportunity
In Stage 1 we bring together all the problems that we see retailers struggling with that a Retail Operations platform can solve. We’ll also explore the opportunities that a Retail Operations platform can help unlock, that you may not even have considered.
StorIQ takes the guesswork out of Retail Operations
If you identify with any of these statements, you would benefit from a Retail Operations platform:
These are all problems that StorIQ – the Retail Operations app can overcome. StorIQ has many great features but here are the ones that solves the main pains we find retailers have today:
StorIQ born out of real-world Retail Operations experience
The features listed above create a powerful Retail Operations app. Amy Bastow, the MD, founded StorIQ when she was working as a retail director but got frustrated with the lack of data, she could see from the store estate. StorIQ has evolved to solve new Retail Operations challenges with the input from the 50 retailers we are proud to work with.
StorIQ is always learning. We collaborate with our customers. Based on their feedback we update our platform with new releases every 2 weeks, bringing them features they want to see.
Big opportunities to go ‘next level’ with your Retail Operations
Unlock landing the big projects
One of the concerns retailers have is that the ‘roadmap is full’ and they are already landing 2 or 3 big projects in store within that year – ranging from a new POS, customer facing tech or relaunching the loyalty scheme. Often what retailers can’t see is that a good communications platform can make landing these big projects so much simpler.
Big projects often have difficulties getting buy-in across field and store teams and often feel like implementation is ‘sprung’ on them.
Combining the streamlined communication with activity planning tools in StorIQ can make it easier to prepare your store teams so they feel informed and excited for your new initiatives.
Create a brand experience that leaves customers feeling good
It’s no accident that some of StorIQ’s early customers were luxury retailers like Hugo Boss, Reiss, Lacoste. These retailers quickly understood that the store is a physical manifestation of the brand. A well-run store is part of the brand experience that customers buy into when they shop. Brands have found that with StorIQ they can manage visual merchandising excellence and campaign consistency across large national and international store estates. This enables brands to have complete control and visibility, helping to strengthen the brand, ensuring customers have the best brand experience in store.
Harness your Gen Z workforce
Gen Z have now entered the workforce. They bring higher expectations around technology and the digital ability to consume information. Get the best out of your new Gen Z workforce by giving them onboarding and training in an intuitive and engaging way. The app even uses social media features like a ‘newsfeed’ and videos to ensure maximum engagement.
Our customers have told us that onboarding now takes much less time than pre-StorIQ due to the clear structure of information so they can quickly get the knowledge they need.
Improve your store teams’ job satisfaction
Are multiple departments bombarding stores with information? An in-built approvals process can mean that stores aren’t drowning in conflicting information, but rather getting a steady stream of targeted and relevant communications. Using StorIQ, Retail Operations teams and area managers can effectively communicate with stores, and store managers quickly and effectively. This saves precious admin time with the added satisfaction of a job well done.
Keep a competitive edge
When brands embrace StorIQ they tell us that the improvement in their operations really sets them apart from the competition. The store ‘brand’ experience for customers is significantly improved – not only does the store look and feel better, but the admin time saved means that staff have more time to spend with customers.
The improvements on the brand experience is not just a benefit to customers – it improves staff morale too. Store staff report that that they enjoy working in a more organised and efficient environment – leading to increased loyalty and less churn.
Make losing staff to the competition a thing of the past by creating better store working environments, while boosting your customers’ brand experience.
In Summary…
Do you work in Retail Operations? Is StorIQ sounding like a solution that could answer some problems while unlocking new opportunities to do more with less?
If you are ready to transform how you and your store teams are working we would love to show you StorIQ in action – request a demo today.
This was the first part of a 4-part series that helps you understand Retail Operations Technology and the benefits it can bring to your store estate.
Discover chapter 2 ‘Weighing up the retail ops options‘ which will help you explore the options available to you so you can make an informed decision for the right reasons.
