The retail industry has taken a hit recently as some brands struggle to thrive in the eCommerce space where a brick and mortar experience isn’t always enticing enough to draw customers back. The best investment retailers can make right now to combat this is an investment in their people.
As Entrepreneur Magazine put in in their article Poor Employee Engagement Is The Biggest Retail Fail of 2015, “While [things like new product launches] are important to think about regarding the way your retail business operates, they unfortunately overlook what’s perhaps the biggest fail of all — a lack of focus on employee engagement.”
Think about it. The only way you will be able to accomplish your corporate goals is if everyone buys-in and commits to making it happen, and that goes all the way down. Whether it’s on the physical sales floor or in a live chat on your website, you need high engagement from retail associates who assist customers every day.
Now that we’re all in agreement, we’d like to share a few solutions CPG has used to help our current retail clients (Kohl’s, ULTA Beauty, and Sam’s Club to name a few) improve their internal communication and engagement.
The Crown Jewel of any Engagement Strategy is a Live Experience
Nothing can match the energy of getting your people together in one place to celebrate their accomplishments, share best practices, create new goals, and strategize how to tackle them. The connections made through this collaborative environment open up so many doors for your people. And as we know, their engagement is your success.
CPG’s 30 years of production experience makes us champions in the event space. We recommend ditching the seated, lecture-style breakouts and replace them by filing the space instead with physical (or virtual) content that people can learn from while interacting with other attendees.
A key component in an event’s success is its messaging, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered there, too.
Internal Communication is Key
Keep your people continuously informed by maintaining a steady flow of content through various communication channels. They should never have to sit and wonder what your company’s goals are and how their individual goals align.
Attendee Journey Map:
An Attendee Journey Map outlines all the communication surrounding your event. With this detailed plan, we help you map out the messaging itself, as well as the channels, frequency, and any other outside the box solution we can think of! In the retail industry, it’s likely that a large part of your messaging will center on the customer experience. We will help you take this, and any other key initiative, and support this messaging before (so attendees know what’s coming and have background), during (so that the perfect blend of information and inspiration hits at just the right moment), and after (so that inspiration can live on and be applied long-term).
Planet of the Apps:
There are so many engaging ways to bring apps and other immersive digital platforms into your brand. Provide an event app that connects people with their peers onsite, gives live content opportunities, and houses all scheduling and details in one user-friendly place. It’s also a great idea to take your training digital, if you haven’t already. These interactive platforms can set up virtual scenarios that prepare your people to excel at customer service. When we provide our clients with incredible custom apps and digital, we turn to our Nitrous Effect partner, RevUnit.
Together, we empower your in-store talent with experiences and meaningful communication strategies that fuel new momentum for retail innovation. Check out the video below to learn more:
We Have the Experience, the Tools, the Technology
We understand the challenges of the retail space. We have strategized with top retailers and seen the results. Our engagement expertise coupled with the added power of The Nitrous Effect means there’s no challenge we can’t solve. We’re ready to help you engage your people and grow your business.
