Survey: Digital Workplace Tech Helps Retail Teams To Cut Costs, Drive Growth

Retailers and restaurateurs see digital workplace tools as key to omnichannel success, YOOBIC survey shows

Retailers and restaurateurs increasingly view digital workplace tools as the solution to widespread labor shortages and logistical disruption, according to a major international survey conducted by Coresight Research on behalf of YOOBIC, the digital workplace pioneer.

Conducted in September 2021, the new survey reached 165 industry decision-makers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The survey reveals the challenges being faced by retailers and restaurants in the COVID era, but also highlights key opportunities for omnichannel growth as businesses find creative, digitally enabled solutions to engage employees, realize cost savings and operational efficiencies, and meet the needs of their increasingly demanding and tech-savvy customers.

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Among the survey’s key findings:

• Digital workplace tech boosts sales and reduces costs
  
  As retailers and restaurateurs adapt to a challenging market environment, they are increasingly turning to digital workplace tech to realize cost savings and efficiencies. Of survey respondents that had already implemented digital workplace tech, 82% reported increased sales conversions; 79% reported reduced operational costs; 76% reported increased brand compliance; and 75% reported better employee engagement.
  
  More than six out of 10 respondents said they planned to invest more in digital workplace technology over the next 12–18 months than they had in prior years. By country, 66% of UK respondents say they plan to invest more versus 60% of US respondents and 52% of respondents in Canada; home improvement brands, fashion retailers, and restaurants were especially likely to make digital workplace investments.
  
  
• Brands are empowering employees to create stellar experiences
  
  With customer review sites, menus, competitor offerings, and pricing data all just a click away, today’s consumers are doing their homework, and frontline employees need better tools to help them keep up with digitally savvy customers. Almost six out of 10 respondents say their frontline teams need new tools to help them match their own product knowledge with those of increasingly well-informed, demanding, and tech-savvy consumers.
  
  Maintaining high standards amidst labor shortages is a key challenge, and more than two-thirds of respondents say their digital workplace investments are driven by the need to communicate with and engage frontline employees. Faster and more efficient employee training, improved operational efficiencies, and compliance tools are also cited as helping brands to drive cost savings while delivering stellar experiences for customers.
  
  
• Frontline teams are key to brands’ omnichannel strategies
  
  Business leaders still see real-world locations as central to their organizations’ growth: 44% of survey respondents report that stores and restaurants will account for the majority of their sales in coming years, and just 12% see stores or restaurants as becoming less important to their strategy. But the role of frontline teams is changing: 56% of respondents now see their stores or restaurants as part of a broader omnichannel strategy.
  
  Digital tech is playing a key role as brands work to add crossover services such as curbside pickup, buy-online/return-in-store options, or tools to allow customers to place online orders while shopping in-store. Workplace tech can empower frontline teams to rapidly master new technologies and processes, helping sales associates to make real-world shopping as slick and effortless as the online buying experience, respondents say.

“Restaurants and retail businesses have weathered the pandemic and emerged stronger than they were before — in large part because they’ve learned to bring digital technologies into their workplaces, and engage and empower their frontline teams,” says Fabrice Haiat, YOOBIC CEO and co-founder. “This survey underscores the need for business leaders to keep investing in the future of their workforce, to ensure they’re able to overcome labor shortages, onboard new employees quickly, retain valued team-members, and keep providing compelling omnichannel experiences for their customers.”

“Digitally savvy, increasingly demanding consumers expect seamless omnichannel shopping experiences, so retailers need to equip their frontline employees with the tools that enable them to meet consumers where they are,” said Deborah Weinswig, Founder & CEO at Coresight Research. “These tools become all the more critical when retailers who are challenged to solve staffing and labor shortages, want to help their existing staff be the most productive and engaged they can be, which in turn leads to a higher level of job satisfaction.”

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