Today's Malaise in Retail

Decades ago the retail market was much simpler. Competition was sublime and it was easy to make money and pay employees well. The Retail Industry was a fun and prosperous market to work in. Today, the industry has spiralled into a vicious circle where employees do not get the support and training to be productive and thus their pay suffers. Companies also tend to over-structure their organizations and leave little room for the entrepreneurial retailer to flourish in a store.

Through all of this, the Retail Industry has become an unpopular venue of employment. In fact, hiring help for the Holiday season is almost impossible for some retailers who just cannot convince seasonal or permanent employees to work for them.

Little advice can be offered for the over structured and low paying mega-retailers who believe they own the winning formula. However the smaller retailer who wishes to grow can only compete if they can increase the individual productivity of the staff in each store. How can you do that? It's not as hard as you think if you follow our plan:

1. Support and treat staff well to reduce turnover. It takes time for staff to reach optimal productivity. Ill treated employees and high turnover severely curtail sales and productivity. Review our Human Resources Manual to help develop a progressive organization.
2. Train and equip staff to become the best retail merchants possible. Our course The Retail Equation for Store Managers will equip and support your key field leaders with the skills and resources to become the very best merchants they can be.
3. Create a structure that balances systems and controls with the entrepreneurial spirit so that store staff can deliver the best customer experience possible. Always encourage them to make decisions close to the customer. Create the optimal balance through The Retail Equation for Corporate Leaders.

As our mission statement outlines, we believe that these three points are the key to retail survival and prosperity for the small to medium retailer who must turn a profit in our modern hyper-competitive retail market.