The store assistant of the future

Brand advocacy, technical know-how, sales expertise and advanced communication skills. It might sound like a description of a chief executive, but it’s the evolution of an altogether less high-powered job role we’re looking at.

As the retail industry changes, the skills that retail store assistants need will become increasingly complex, and the job is starting to morph into something completely different from its original incarnation.

As Marks & Spencer head of service Jo Moran says, shop assistants are no longer there just to pass products through the tills. They are the customer’s main point of contact with a brand, and will play an ever greater role in boosting sales.

She says: “20 to 30 years ago the role was very transactional - now, the customer assistant will be much more integral in terms of understanding what customers are looking for. It will be a more experiential role, rather than transactional.”

Several factors are combining to change the job. Multichannel shopping is one, while the growing emphasis on good service is another. As the role of the store changes, so too does the role of the shop assistant and over the next few years new requirements will come to the fore.

Aurora Fashions president Stuart Binnie pointed out at this year’s The Cloud Retail Week Conference in March that retail store estates are set to shrink. While a fashion chain might now need 250 stores to get full UK coverage, in the future this figure is likely to be closer to 60 or 70, complemented by a larger web presence.

This change has big implications for the people working in these stores says Craig Sears-Black, managing director of consultancy Manhattan Associates.

“Those 60 stores are going to be very different to be successful and achieve the same sales volumes as the 250 do now. That sets the context for how the role will change,” he says.

Store assistants will need everything from a wider understanding of how the business works and what it represents, to a comprehensive knowledge of how to get the most out of an iPad.

“They will need to be more educated, and perhaps higher paid because you will be demanding more skills,” says Sears-Black. “Plus, if costs are falling as store estates shrink, retailers will be able to afford to pay their store assistants more. The economics of the store will change.”

A shift to selling

With revenues focused on fewer stores, sales assistants will become a more integral part of the sales process. The role could become more focused on selling, with staff needing to become more proactive in the way they approach customers and read the signals they give. “They need to read signals of what customers are looking for,” says Moran. “It’s about reading the signals and responding appropriately.”

John Lewis resourcing manager Carole Donaldson adds that those in the role will need to have a flexible approach to cope with the changes: “They will have a more proactive approach to new ways of learning by accessing and interacting with information in a more flexible way,” she says.

There could be beneficial consequences of store staff becoming more central to retailing. The image problem that often dogs the role could be over-turned - it’s often seen as a Saturday or part-time job rather than as the start of a retail career but, as the demands of the job change, this could too.

“Once you put an iPad into the hands of a store assistant it changes the dynamics of a store assistant’s engage- ment with a consumer. It gives them more respect from the customer,” says Sears-Black.

Doing a better job

Michaela Weller, partner at retail training company First Friday, says the change could help retailers attract bet- ter quality staff - especially if retailers are prepared to work hard to provide opportunities.

“Retail has had perhaps an issue with image in terms of being a career-based sector. People are looking for opportunities and development, and will work with retailers and brands that are offering that. Employees want to have pride for the businesses they work for.”

Tim Ogle, chief executive of customer insight company Marketforce, says JD Sports is one retailer looking at how to increase employee engagement. It has just opened a new training academy in Manchester, and is focusing on creating a talent pipeline and a structured career roadmap for those who want to develop. “It means they can identify the 17-year-old sales assistants that have potential. They’re not just thinking short term - they want people who can grow in the business,” he says.

Weller says retailers will be increasingly likely to employ people with the right attitude, providing training in the necessary retail skills. For M&S, the emphasis is on improving the quality of staff. Moran says the retailer is investing in training its staff to enable them to cope in a multichannel environment, but she observes the training needs to reflect the evolutionary nature of technological change and generally takes place on the shopfloor.

“It’s happening out there anyway - multichannel is part of people’s every day activities,” she says. “As part of working for M&S we want to make it feel very natural and part of what people do. We are using technology particularly to help solve customers’ problems, and training is really important. We make it part of staff’s everyday activity.”

John Lewis is taking the same piece- meal approach, and Donaldson says retailers won’t be able to shy away from investing in their staff. She says: “To achieve a fully integrated approach to customer service skills, retailers need to commit to continuous investment on the shopfloor. It is therefore important that managers embrace this development element on a day-to-day basis through coaching and consistent feedback.”

The people touch

Technology is changing the retail land- scape, making the need for technical expertise unavoidable. M&S for instance is rolling out its Style Online service, which allows customers to browse fash- ion online and order via touchscreens, to some of its stores and is trying out new ways of using iPads in-store.
Customers may soon be able to browse on iPads for certain products, and Moran says the devices have proven particularly useful in categories such as furniture. They enable staff to order a sofa, for instance, while the cus-tomers are still sitting on it in the store, instead of moving to a till point. “We are making technology part of the total cus- tomer shopping journey,” Moran says.

But while it will be integral to the role, technical know-how is only one part of the journey store assistants must embark on. As channels merge, they will need a more holistic view of how the business works and where stock can be found.

“Store staff need a greater under- standing of how retailers actually sell now,” says Ogle. “They need to know that you’re not just selling what’s on the shelves, but the extended catalogue as well. They need to be more knowl- edgeable about the actual business they work for and what the brand repre- sents, and must be trained in the cul- ture of the business they’re in.”

Not only that, but staff will increasingly be seen as ambassadors for a brand, needing good product knowl- edge and strong communication skills. With margins now so squeezed it’s get- ting harder to differentiate using price and service is once again coming to the fore as a key differentiator. Even for those retailers positioned at the lower end of the market, the emphasis is still on cutting queues and fast service. “There is a return to service as the key differentiator,” says Weller. “Price can’t be in an economy where everyone has stripped price down.”

As assistants become an increasingly core part of retailing, the culture of many retailers will need to shift in response. The best way to ensure staff know a business well enough to act as brand ambassadors is to develop and foster an inclusive culture, and to make sure communication throughout the company is good.

“You need to have more inclusive- ness culturally to utilise staff as ambas- sadors,” says Weller. “Brands need to be willing to communicate and utilise that resource.” Sears-Black adds assistants’ responsibilities will increase - they will be managing lots of different processes such as online returns or giving advice - and that communication must increase to facilitate this. “Communication becomes much more important. You need to broadcast infor- mation out to stores on what’s going on,” he says. “That has to happen now but nothing like the velocity it will need to in the future.”

However retailers choose to respond, the changing nature of stores will mean big changes afoot for those who work in them. A flexible and proactive attitude - for both business and staff - will be crucial for those who want to see their store assistants thrive.