News

Better-performing retailers are empowering front-line workers with tech

March 17, 2010

RSR Research's latest report, "Enterprise Workforce Management: Redefining the Boundaries of Customer-Centric Retailing," finds that better-performing retailers seek to empower front-line employees, in response to increasingly savvy shoppers. These findings are based on a survey of 134 retailers in the winter of 2009-10. The report is sponsored by RedPrairie.

"Consumers now have more technology in their hands when they walk into stores than employees. This can put the retailer at a disadvantage from the start of the shopping experience," said Nikki Baird, managing partner at RSR Research and co-author of the report. "Winning retailers recognize the issue, and are beginning to shift their workforce management strategies and investments towards a more empowered workforce. Front-line employees are not being displaced by customer-owned technology like mobile phones, but their role has to change."

Survey respondents also expressed a desire to view their workforce more holistically, said Brian Kilcourse, also a managing partner at RSR Research and co-author of the report.

"Hourly workers are everywhere in the retail organization, and not only are retailers looking for a broader range of capabilities under the umbrella of 'workforce management,' they also seek some consistency in how those employees are managed across functions," Kilcourse said.