Store Associates

We've become increasingly accustomed to reading about retailers closing dozens of stores, while countless new technologies promise to revitalize those remaining. Retailers experimenting with lifesaving tools are overwhelmed by the options. Some executives are signing off on systems meant to change how their employees work and interact with customers (a good thing), but with no…

Over the 2017 holiday season, total sales rose by 4.9 percent, the biggest increase year-over-year since 2011. Consumers shopped via a variety of channels, but the biggest winner was e-commerce: online sales were up 18.1 percent from the previous year. To understand the ways consumers shop and the experiences brands and retailers offer, Astound Commerce…

Technology’s presence in popular culture is inescapable — so much so that the debate over whether “retail is dying” and “technology is taking over” has caused fluctuating business models in real estate, automotive and large corporations. SET Creative, an award-winning experience agency, suggests a different perspective in that we’ve underestimated the need for brick-and-mortar, human experiences for retail’s future growth. In its new whitepaper, Human After All, technology is painted as a powerful resource for commerce, but one that doesn’t entertain the essential quality that humans bring to the retail table: an understanding of consumer behavior through quality customer interaction. A marriage of physical and digital is what will save classic retail from extinction.

For decades, the most successful retailers thrived by employing in-store associates to provide shoppers with excellent customer service, advice and individualized attention. In the digital age, however, consumers prefer much less human interaction. They're instead looking to various in-store technologies for help, advice, product and price information, and convenience. To better understand what drives shoppers…

Walmart is testing a new dress code that gives employees more freedom in what they can wear on the job. Under the pilot program, which has been rolled out to fewer than 100 stores, workers can wear solid color blue jeans instead of khaki-colored or black denim pants. They also can wear a solid-color shirt of…

If the prospect of offering warranty solutions seems intimidating, you’re not alone. For many retailers, incorporating a warranty pitch into an already tricky sales process may be viewed as a simple check-the-box obligation. The reality is that warranties can offer an additional line of revenue and reduce customer churn, two tremendous assets for any business.…

For the second year in a row, Axonify has released the results of its annual State of Workplace Training Study, conducted in December 2017 by global market research firm Ipsos. The study’s goal was to gain a comprehensive view of workplace training across different industries, including retail, and highlight the importance of providing the right kind of training to drive measurable business results.

In today’s retail landscape, brands must work harder than ever to attract and retain customers. No longer is the only competition across the mall, but it’s also lurking in all corners of the internet. Retailers spend good money to market, promote and advertise themselves to lure shoppers in-store, but if the customer experience falls short…

There's little doubt in the retail industry that it’s time to make big changes. And if anything was clear this year at the National Retail Federation's Big Show, it was that retailers are on the search for technologies that can help them adapt to the times. Specifically, these retailers are looking to provide the omnichannel…

Nearly 90 percent of retail sales still take place in physical stores. Yet the rise of voice-activated “intelligent assistants” such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home is taking the brand relationship out of the store and into the home, forever changing the way that consumers engage with products and services. Fortunately for retailers, the same…