Amid rising enterprise technology transformation and increasingly virtualized and remote operations, video technology communication tools are becoming critically important in the workplace, with 95% of businesses utilizing video conferencing solutions. This extends beyond the traditional office environment across industries including retail communication.
The need for effective communication in retail
As the shopping experience and consumer expectations rapidly evolve, brands need to become more agile and adapt their retail communication strategies to connect with customers. Thankfully, more flexible and secure communication solutions are available that allow retail brands to quickly adjust to changing market demands.
As a result, retailers are increasingly adopting video-based retail communication solutions. Video collaboration provides many benefits for the entire organization, from regional managers to customer service representative and can include improvements in:
- Sales and customer experience (CX)
- Business operations
- HR and people management
Improving sales and CX
Post-pandemic, retail e-commerce performance continues to remain robust: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, retail eCommerce first-quarter 2022 sales were 6.6% higher than the same period in 2021. Yet, despite the media focus, the retail eCommerce segment still only accounted for 14.3% of total sales during the first quarter.
Combining in-store and online shopping benefits
Rather than viewing the future of retail as an “either/or” situation, many industry experts predict retailers will benefit from creating cohesive online and in-store experiences that combine the best of both worlds. Video collaboration tools can help to do just that.
Consumer preferences for personalized experiences are well established. Video technology provides the ability to replicate in-store experiences online in a virtual environment and to provide personalization regardless of where the customer is located. For example, a customer may want the expertise of an in-store associate and with video collaboration they can get the help they need when it’s convenient for them without having to physically go into a store.
Research suggests that, as a result of the global pandemic, consumers are increasingly open to trying a virtual shopping consultation. Shopify defines virtual shopping as “a digital service where customers can browse and shop for products online as they would in a brick-and-mortar retail store.” These blended retail experiences are likely to become increasingly common.
Improve associate productivity
Getting time with employees across an organization can be difficult, particularly if key teams and individuals operate on different schedules. Retail communication tools make it far easier to secure much-needed opportunities for sales training, business development and relationship building. In fact, a major sports merchandise retailer reported it saved two weeks of working time annually since implementing video collaboration tools.
Enhancing operations with video technology communication
There are a number of ways that video technology can support and even enhance your business operations including improving people management, streamlining supply chain management, reducing travel expenses, boosting employee engagement, and more. A planogram is a schematic drawing or plan that directs store associates to display merchandise in a predetermined way that is designed to maximize sales, and video technology is now used to track planogram compliance. It’s no longer necessary for someone to inspect every store because compliance can be verified virtually. Additionally, an online fashion retailer was able to quickly and seamlessly transition to virtual operations and keep employee engagement high.
More effective supply chain management
For retailers, efficient supply chain management is critical, even more so given ongoing supply chain challenges. Video technology can help streamline communication and collaboration among warehouses, transportation fleets, logistics vendors and more.
Reduce travel expenses and lower logistical complexity
Video conferencing solutions can help store managers and staff align their efforts quickly and efficiently without the financial and logistical challenges of meeting in person. Teams can collaborate more readily, design better operating strategies and implement newer, more efficient solutions without costly, time-consuming on-site visits.
Video technology communication platforms are particularly useful in aiding faster decision-making and better coordination between retail locations, whether they are in the same city or on different continents. Retail communication platforms can also help make it easy to keep production on-track, minimize shipping delays and maintain business continuity by enabling key personnel to meet face-to-face via video technology rather than requiring them to travel to in-person meetings.
Offer hybrid work opportunities
Many organizations are continuing to embrace the remote and hybrid work models they implemented during the pandemic. According to a recent survey, 82% of virtual employees enjoy working remotely. This includes the retail industry, where it’s estimated that nearly 15% of retailers expanded remote work options for employees during the pandemic. While individual retailers will have their own logistical challenges to overcome with hybrid working arrangements, video collaboration platforms provide retailers the ability to offer more flexible working arrangements and at the same time gain access to top talent from anywhere around the world.
Boost employee engagement
Video collaboration platforms are a cost-effective way to connect employees and convene staff meetings, acknowledge employee performance and raise awareness for new initiatives. More than one-half of businesses report that video-conferencing has increased employee engagement.
Provide remote training and education
As a powerful tool for training and development, retailers can use video collaboration tools to upskill, educate and reeducate workers on new products, rapidly changing industry best practices, shifting market environments and emerging fashion or product trends. Video technology communication platforms have a range of features that can:
- Eliminate the administrative burden of facilitating an inclusive and interactive virtual training session
- Accommodate up to 1,000 participants per meeting to scale program reach and effectiveness
- Deliver simultaneous and/or relay interpretation and automated closed captioning
- Promote in-meeting and post-meeting engagement via collaboration boards and out-of-meeting access
The future of retail communication
Retailers looking to centralize operations, streamline supply chain management and optimize customer outreach efforts won't just find that video collaboration solutions are an essential and indispensable tool, they'll also discover that video conferencing platforms can be foundational and enable retailers to seamlessly connect every touchpoint across the end-to-end retail experience. By investing in these solutions, retailers can effectively shift their focus from operating logistics to overall revenue maximization.
Learn more about how Verizon can help your employees and customers collaborate more effectively, whether they're in-store, at-home or on the road.
The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.