Study: Retailers fall short in giving employees dedicated mobile devices
One-third of the U.S. retail workforce is not given a dedicated mobile device today, with the largest retailers being least likely to give each employee a device for their exclusive use.
That's according to a new study conducted for Zebra Technologies by Coresight Research, which found that 34% of U.S. retail employees, or 7.7 million associates in all, lack mobile devices for their exclusive use.
The report, "Success at Hand: Equipping Frontline Workers with More Mobile Devices to Drive Revenue and Delight Customers," indicates that 40% of employees working for large retailers either have to share a mobile device or go without one. Mass merchandisers and companies with over $1 billion in revenue ranked above average in terms of the proportion of workers without their own mobile devices at their companies.
Those who work in store operations (42%), merchandising (37%) or on the store floor (34%) are the least likely to have dedicated devices even though they are often considered to be among the most mobile-dependent team members and highly influence shopper satisfaction ratings.
The percentage of employees at surveyed U.S. retail organizations who do not use mobile devices varies by business function:
- Store operations: 42%
- Merchandising: 37%
- Store floor: 34%
- Field mobility and operations: 34%
- Warehouse operations: 31%
- Inventory management: 30%
- Ominchannel and fulfillment operations: 29%
- Checkout experience: 29%
U.S. retailers not equipping their employees with mobile devices provided the following reasons (more than one reason accepted):
- Skills and talent shortage: 35%
- Data and security concerns: 31%
- Vendor lock-in and standards: 29%
- Management approval and support: 28%
- Technical issues and maintenance: 28%
- Cost of implementation: 27%
- ROI uncertainty: 26%
- Insufficient IT infrastructure: 25%
- Complexity of integration: 25%
- Resistance from employees: 23%
When asked what benefits they would expect to receive from equipping employees with mobile devices, respondents ranked improved employee satisfaction, improved operational efficiency, and better customer satisfaction as the top three.
Respondents also rated increased efficiency of daily operational tasks, enhanced communication between staff members, and integration of various payment methods as the top three workflows that would benefit from mobile enablement.
“Most people are accustomed to always having mobile devices in their hands,” said Deborah Weinswig, CEO of Coresight Research. "When they don’t have one, workers feel disconnected from the people, tools, and information they rely on to do their jobs well."
Coresight Research conducted three online surveys of decision-makers at US-based retailers on behalf of Zebra Technologies between November 2022 and July 2024. Image courtesy of Ground Picture.
