HOW REAL-TIME WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT BENEFITS CFOs
Reflexis is a leading provider of real-time store execution and workforce management solutions. Brett Friedman, SVP global sales and marketing, sat down with Chain Store Age to discuss how retail CFOs can achieve their business goals through operational excellence while consistently executing their customer engagement strategies.
With all the potential solutions companies can implement today, why should a platform of real-time store execution and workforce management be a top priority for retail CFOs?
All CFOs evaluate trends, set critical measurements, and determine financial productivity and customer service strategies. Additionally, retail CFOs face such unique challenges as:
Online sales are growing, but most sales still occur in the stores;
Customer expectations continue to rise, and such services as buy online, pickup in store are required; and
Most retail employees are paid by the hour, and wage rates are increasing.
With rising labor costs and increased workload, it’s never been more important to optimize productivity of managers and associates. Our solutions enable retailers to meet their customer service and financial objectives and turn stores into a competitive advantage.
What current processes and systems act as obstacles to meeting financial and customer service goals, and how does a real-time store operations platform enable retailers to overcome them?
Retailers attempt to execute labor operations and customer engagement strategies using inefficient email, spreadsheets and back-office PCs. They make store team members learn and interact with multiple store-facing systems, and they overload managers with reports full of old information. All of these inefficiencies make it hard for employees to do their jobs.
A real-time store operations platform solves these problems by providing the following features:
A single, easy-to-use app on mobile devices to view alerts and KPIs, coupled with best practice actions — how to respond to what’s happening now — instead of regretting last week’s missed opportunities;
Increased productivity by interacting with multiple store-facing systems using the same app. No more having to learn and switch among disparate back office systems.
The ability to sense and respond the right way to changing conditions — weather, labor trends, employee sick call-offs, stock outs, late truck arrivals and other surprises. Store personnel easily can respond to surprises and get back to helping customers.
What kind of ROI can the retail CFO expect from real-time store operations solutions?
Examples of ROI that our customers have realized include a 2% to 5% increase in sales due to consistent execution of product launches, promotions and seasonal campaigns, and a 6% cost reduction through optimized scheduling and best practice response to real-time labor operations trends.
Other examples of ROI that our customers have realized include a 500 basis point increase in customer satisfaction — schedules are aligned with customer demand, including omnichannel tasks; and 95% or higher compliance of loss prevention policies to positively impact the bottom line.
One Reflexis workforce management customer, a $17.5 billion retailer, attributed a decline in SG&A and an increase in sales to Reflexis, leading to an increase in profitability of $35.9 million over two quarters.
Are there other benefits your solutions deliver?
Yes, our cloud delivery solutions are implemented in weeks or months, resulting in rapid ROI. Cloud delivery also eliminates the need for the IT department to procure hardware and software, and frees them from maintenance chores. And integration with existing systems allows retailers to preserve prior IT investments, making both the CIO and the CFO smile.