The main revolution is the fact that by next year, retailers will need to cater not only to millennials but also to Gen Z. This brand-new generation of shoppers will benefit from having the tools to shop across all channels, find the best prices, and make their purchase decision based on a series of variables, including the level of engagement with retailers and brands’ social consciousness.
For this reason, the retail channel must now enable its own workforce to make fast and effective fact-based decisions in order to deliver a superior shopping experience that impacts the bottom line.
Together with the integration of AI and machine-learning technologies that will provide retailers with better predictive capabilities, field experts believe that mobile-workforce management applications will make real the difference by enabling employees and managers to work in a more effective and sustainable way.
Roamler was among the first companies to have launched a mobile-workforce platform in Europe, and we thought of 3 main ways to enhance retailers’ productivity and experience through the use of mobile-workforce technologies.
Connecting and engaging with employees
The ability to operate entirely on the user’s preferred mobile device allows retail chains to increase the level of engagement and satisfaction of their employees. Mobile-workforce platforms can be used to generate internal communities that are “called” to perform specific tasks in the POS in which they operate. With Dedicated Roamler for instance, employees are gathered into “restricted” communities that gain access to a specific list of tasks to perform directly at their workplace. This mobility gives workers much more visibility, input and control over their work experience while promoting and supporting a better work/life balance.
Enabling managers to excel
Adopting mobile-workforce solutions also benefits managers, who can access accurate insights and data coming directly from the shop floor to make effective and data-driven decisions more quickly than competitors.
By leveraging a mobile Crowd of hundreds of thousands of on-demand shoppers who can easily transmit data from any location, managers can streamline most field-marketing activities and free themselves from the task of aggregating and analyzing complex data. Thanks to live dashboards and exhaustive reports accessible in real time, they can apply their full expertise where it will have the most impact on increasing bottom-line profits.
Ensuring manufacturers better in-store execution
The use of a mobile workforce can also allow retailers to more successfully meet manufacturers’ expectations for planograms and promotions. Research shows that today, only about 40% of promotional materials produced by brands ends up on the shop floor. By letting an on-demand mobile Crowd perform in-store merchandising activities, retailers can build better relationships with manufacturers while ensuring them full visibility and availability of their SKUs and promotional materials.
At Roamler we have already been working with a merchandising mobile Crowd for 3 years, providing both retail chains and producers with efficient and cost-effective solutions that enhance in-store execution and ultimately drive growth.
