In addition, the retail industry has one of the highest turnover rates of full time and seasonal staff. Not only does this mean a lot of administration and paperwork during the whole on-boarding and off-boarding HR process, but it also means a constant stream of staff members who are unfamiliar with the various forms and processes within the store.
One area where retailers are beginning to see cost savings is by automating time-consuming manual tasks. In the back office, this can include invoice processing, employee on boarding, inventory management and incident reporting. On the shop floor, this can be everything from sales and credit applications, through to warranties, loyalty programmes and service contracts. Streamlining these areas not only increases profit margins, but also improves productivity and frees up time to spend with customers at the point of sale.
Being able to move the recruitment from paper to an electronic system greatly reduces the time required to get a new hire into the field, office or shop floor. As well as enabling process automation, this conversion means that forms are available to employees through self-service portals and email. Similarly, checklists can be easily set up to track that all necessary documentation has been collected, processed and securely stored. For the new employee it means a straightforward and guided form completion process and the ability to check in on wage payments, targets, holiday requests and so on.
Of course, not every aspect of the retail industry can be made paperless. Whether it is printing content like invoices, quotes or signage, even when paper is necessary the processes and print infrastructure can be optimised.
By combining managed print services (MPS) along with intelligent capture software and process optimisation, retailers can lift the burden of administrative tasks from staff, while cutting printing costs, elevating security and reducing the need for physical storage.
MPS not only helps retailers to cut the time spent on keeping their printers working, it also determines the right mix and placement of devices across the organisation for greatest efficiency and can bring a host of intelligent solutions that boost user productivity. These can include intelligent capture solutions that help retailers easily transform the time-intensive and error-prone task of manually processing documents into a fast and effective, automated process. Another such innovation is one such as print release, whereby documents can be 'printed' from any device, including a tablet or laptop and then 'unlocked' to print at the most convenient printer available with a simple entry of a staff code or swipe of an RFID card.
Smart selling starts long before the shop floor, therefore effective document management and process optimisation can help retailers to focus on their core business.
Retailers need to be as flexible as possible to compete aggressively in a multi-channel sales world. This includes having the right tools onsite ready when an occasion arises. For example, if a retailer's competitor advertises a promotion, the retailer should be equipped to promote its counteroffer quickly. Signage management tools need to be in place, easy to use and encompassing four areas - design, publish, measure and manage, all controlled by one solution to streamline the process. Retailers who have printing solutions that manage the end-to-end signage task can outsmart their competition and avoid missed sales opportunities.
A flexible printing solution becomes especially important for chain retail outlets where printing needs are often localised and stores need to have the ability to produce and print documents such as advertisements and tags on location. Not only is the speed in which local stores can print material important but the consistency in the look and feel across the whole organisation. Setting up templates and suggested content in a cloud-based solution is a vital aspect in such a signage management solution. Retail signage is often printed in batches, now managers can be sure only the signs that are needed in specific locations are printed and there is no delay for delivery. Cutting down on wasted materials, ensuring branding consistency, equipping stores to adapt to the local market, all of these areas contribute to increasing the bottom-line.
As retailers continue to strive to build customer share, they will need partners to help them confront hard questions on the strategy behind stores and whether or not they have the most cost and time efficient solutions in place. When it comes to the admin burden, top printer suppliers can help retailers keep the customer at the core of the shopping experiences, automating and removing the administrative hassles from the front-end to the back-end.
