It’s no big news that the retail industry is in the midst of fundamental change. In fact, already 4 out of 5 Americans are shopping online. But 55% of online shoppers still say they prefer to buy from retailers that also have a physical store presence, which means your customers are still coming, and you still want to deliver them the best experience they can possibly get.
So how can SimpliField's mobile-first platform enable you to improve retail performance across your entire network?
Here are five ways leading brands adopted SimpliField's management solution to improve retail performance, but also to build better internal relationships, optimize the customer experience, and increase brand loyalty.
1. How to Review Merchandising Execution From Afar
For more than 70 years, ASICS has been producing footwear and sports equipment that help people to live healthier, happier lives. And a mission like that means a lot of responsibility, especially when customer loyalty is so closely tied to delivering flawless merchandising displays across a large retail network.
To optimize how merchandising was implemented across 150 stores in France, ASICS relies on their field team of technical representatives to visit store locations every day and educate store teams on how to optimally execute new merchandising initiatives.
But there was a major problem at hand: Neither HQ or the field team could monitor store merchandising when the field team wasn't on-site. And when questions arose about a new campaign or visual assets, these teams had difficulty supporting store teams by resolving the issues quickly. They simply couldn't see what was going on.
Now with SimpliField, store teams can easily upload photos and videos right in the app, enabling HQ and field teams to review and approve execution from afar to improve retail performance. And when those sticky questions arise, these teams can use the photos and videos to assess progress in real time, greatly expediting the decision-making needed to ensure optimal visual merchandising and issue resolution.
2. How to Monitor Store Performance
With 5,000 salons in 140 countries, L'Oreal is always looking for new opportunities to increase brand loyalty through top-notch customer service. So when their Belgium-based Professional division implemented a new seven-step process for delivering optimal customer service — one that leveraged continuous data reporting and established KPIs — everyone on their HQ and field teams were excited to see the outcome.
Unfortunately, collecting and reporting all of the data and getting feedback from HQ was time-consuming and complex to centralize. Plus, the new reporting process didn't allow any customization to address the specific needs and priorities of individual stores in their retailer network.
But now, armed with the real-time dashboards in the SimpliField app, HQ, field, and store teams alike can gain strategic insights into each store's performance to guarantee excellent customer service.
With just a few taps on their mobile devices, team members can review location-specific business objectives and chart the progress made on new marketing campaigns, inventory flows, and customer-focused initiatives. HQ can even access detailed summaries on store performance and drill down to sort data by project or campaign — allowing HQ to gain more clarity on where opportunities for improvement lie and where to pivot operations if needed.
3. How to Automate Store performance Reports
If L'Occitane en Provence seems like a ubiquitous presence in your favorite shopping district, it could be because this beauty leader operates more than 3,000 retail outlets in 90 countries. That means a wealth of data needs to be reported to HQ by L'Occitane's field team of trainers, who serve as the company's eyes and ears every day as they visit store locations.
L'Occitane's field team in France faced a major obstacle: There was no established set of data points to report to HQ, which meant that corporate teams would need to follow up regularly in order to obtain the critical data they needed. And with questions and responses separated across multiple email threads, it was easy to lose track of who needed what — and when.
But once L'Occitane was armed with the SimpliField solution, the automation of store performance reports enabled all levels to access the right data, and in one place. Field and store teams gained access to real-time dashboards that are customized at the store level. With clearly articulated data points now consolidated for every location, field and store teams know exactly what needs to be reported to HQ. Even better, HQ can monitor each store's reporting in real time, which has given them greater insights into store performance and greatly accelerated their decision-making processes.
4. How to Build Stronger Retail Operations Relationships
Nokia and their former subsidiary Withings are committed to empowering people across the globe to make the right decisions for their health and wellness. To increase brand awareness and access to Withings' award-winning portfolio of connected health devices and apps in France, Nokia partnered with a network of leading specialist retailers, including Darty, FNAC, and Boulanger.
And while the surge in product awareness was major, Nokia's field team of regional managers felt the pressure when it came to reporting on retail operations and visual merchandising execution after visiting hundreds of stores across France. Reporting and communications were proving ineffective, with feedback siloed across numerous email chains and no standardized approach in place for reporting.
Looking to add a new weapon in their business toolkit, Nokia turned to SimpliField, which developed one comprehensive dashboard enabling HQ and field teams to ask questions, elicit feedback, and communicate key data. Thanks to these newly implemented efficiencies, productivity quickly went through the roof, paving the way for even more benefits.
Field teams now had the time they needed to be better partners — and brand experts — to their retail network. Being able to think more about collaboration and relationship building with each retailer not only spurred the teams' performance, it resulted in a more engaged workforce.
5. How to Increase Retail Sales With Iconic Product Launches
Sony Interactive Entertainment's flagship product, the PlayStation system, has led the gaming field since the launch of the original console in 1994. To meet the overwhelming growth in consumer demand in the 26 years since, Sony has leaned on a mammoth lineup of wholesale retailers to sell PlayStation products through multiple points of sale, including cross-specialist networks, hypermarket stores, and specialized outlets.
The downside to such a vast retail network? Every one of those retailers has their own operating processes, and oftentimes they differed dramatically from store to store. So when it came time to launch the latest installment in their blockbuster series Uncharted, it was critical for Sony to adapt its store operations in order to align merchandising strategies across their network while also meeting the needs of individual partners.
Once the SimpliField solution was rolled out across their field teams and retailer network, HQ could access a wealth of real-time data about each location's progress on established merchandising objectives and other KPIs. Plus, when store teams had questions about any slice of the product launch, the seamless feedback and communications functionalities within the SimpliField app enabled HQ to make the data-driven decisions they needed to help each retailer meet their goals.
With a 360-degree view of each retailer's progress, not only was the launch of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End a success, Sony has been able to drive consistent sales acceleration throughout their entire network.
The Takeaway
No matter how large your network, SimpliField's proven solution helps leading retailers and brands to drive flawless operational execution — every day in every store.
Whether you are looking to get your merchandising, customer service, reporting, event planning or communications right, you can contact us today for a live demo and see firsthand how SimpliField can help you improve retail performance in a matter of weeks.
