Retail Training Structures & Processes - Insights that Ignite No.9

insights that ignite: blue touch-papers

from VM-unleashed! Ltd

changing VM training structures:

blue touch-paper no.9

another blue-touch paper






Store training clustered by skills needs and not dictated by geography

Traditional Geographical

based Structure

- Time-consuming

- Expensive

Instruction &

Compliance

model

VMRemote Skills-need

based Structure

- Time-efficient

- Cost-effective

Training &

Education

Model

- Success of training dictated

by head-office adjacencies

- Head office very remote

- Necessity for many field

personnel & layering

- General field manager skills

“jack-of-all-trades”

& “master of none”

- High risk of “Chinese

Whisper” information training

- Stores with different training

needs clustered together

- Store training clusters not

aligned with store grading by

assortment & demographics

2. General skillfield personnel

3. Geographical,mixed gradestore clusters

1. Proactive headoffice with specialists

by store cluster

3. Stores clusteredby same skills and

training needs

2. Rationalisedfield compliance

or multi-storemanagers

- Success of training related to commercial and strategic

importance of each store cluster.

- Head office directly involved in stores training

- Only light field compliance team or multi-store managers

- Specialist training & compliance managers allocated

strategically to each store cluster and based in head office

- Ongoing “on-the-edge” training

- Stores clustered by same training needs

- Specialist VM Guardians trained in every store

The “VMSelling Tool-kit!”Assessment will channel store

training into the most important

& productive areas:-

- VM product display techniques

- Store layout & space allocation

- Window & mannequin dressing

- Store process, rules & regimes

- Managing store relays and

complying to VM guidelines

- Understanding and conveying

dynamic product information

- Delivering the Retail Calendar

- Starting a “Training Academy”

- Introducing and managing

Sales Incentive Schemes

- Instigating store refurbishment,

fixture and brand refreshment

- Collaborating on assortment

buying & merchandising

- Customer recognition skills

- Customer service skills

- Team management skills

- Customer satisfaction

1. Remotehead office

Assessing the Skills-needs

of individual storesOne solution does not fit all when

it comes to store skills training.

It is an important part of the

training process to assess which

skills will actually deliver higher

sales, profit, efficiency and brand

equity.

Every store should be assessed

on its:

- service approach

- store manager influence

- sales personnel hierarchy

- experience, skills and “passion”

- assortment complexity

- store design and evolution

- fixture efficiency & compliance

- delivery & replenishment

efficiencies

- customer expectations.

From proper assessment, stores

can be clustered for training.





Do you measure the new store KPIs?Do you have the ability to measure thestrengths & weaknesses of your storesand analyse store initiative ROI.- Store Traffic & Conversion- Attraction of store areas & displays- Dwell times at displays- engagement rate of displays- Dwell conversion rates- Conversion rates by display

Do you have “The Perfect Store or the Perfect Storm?”

Store SellingStrategy

Store SellingFundamentals

VM Selling Toolkit

StoreImplementation

Analysis of storeimplementation

“The Perfect Store

or The Perfect Storm?”

“The Perfect Store” for the

retailer is always the result of

correctly aligned strategy, selling

principles, tools and support

training.

“The Perfect Storm” arises when

the strategy, principles and

selling tools are simply not

correct, uncoordinated, poorly

resourced and often the result of

poor and outdated retail

awareness, perceptions,

education and training.

Do you know what your correct approachto service and non-service selling shouldbe based on your product proposition,store skill-sets, customer demographic,geographic culture?Do you grade stores by Selling Strategyand do you train your staff accordinglyand appropriately?

Do you get your store VM principlescorrect based on your Selling Strategyand customer proposition?- Assortment structure & segmentation- Display densities & store capacities- Store layout, locations & adjacencies- Product display techniques- Retail calendar & promotions- Visual communication & branding- Store design and customer experience

Do you have the correct VMSellingToolkitto support your store selling strategy?- VM Product Display Book- Seasonal VM Guidelines- Dynamic product communication- A Training Academy- A Retail Calendar- Sales Incentive Schemes- Store design & refreshment actions- Buying & Merchandising Support

Do you have the correct skill-sets in yourstore teams, support and train them toimplement and maintain “Perfect Stores!”- Basic VM skills & awareness- Product knowledge & brand passion- Store space awareness- Store operational disciplines- Daily/weekly rules & regimes- Customer & market awareness- Customer Service Skills

VMGlueTraining from “Boardroom to

Stockroom” creates vertically

coordinated retail teams and

processes, building an awareness

and a VMGlue between buying &

selling, head office and stores.

It is important when planning retail training, tools and processes thatthey are appropriate to deliver the wider picture of retail strategy, storeselling strategy, store selling principles and the variety of “selling tools”that a retailer can use to drive sales and profit through its stores.

“A Fish Rots from the Head”

Remember a fish rots from the

head! Training and education is

not just for the seller on the shop

floor but from the CEO

downwards.

To stay ahead of current best

practice, latest thinking and best

practice tools, processes and

technique a retailer needs….

Training & Education from

“Boardroom to Stockroom”





Revolutionise retail training, Radically reduce costs

Store Geography, Diversity

& Retail DynamicsThe three fundamental reasons

why on-going store based

training is becoming the most

effective and practical way of

training staff.

VMRemote makes this training

option viable by ensuring training

is more dynamic, more focused

& more customised than ever,

whilst significantly reducing cost.

The VMRemote Process

1. Analyse store training needs

2. Grade & Cluster stores

by training needs

3. Develop & adapt training

materials for remote training

4. Define new training roles,

responsibilities & processes

5. Revise field training &

compliance team structures

What is remote training?

• Remote training uses store cameras to link the sales personnelin the store directly with centrally located training specialists.

• The cameras are equipped with 2 way sound systems whichallow real-time interactive training sessions.

• Cameras can be focused on important areas of the store fortraining, and with wide fields of view and zoom facilities forstore-wide compliance and maintenance

• Training modules are developed and are tailored to the needs ofindividual stores and store clusters, fully interactive & hands-on.

Which kind of training?

• Remote training is ideal for all store based disciplines• Store personnel are trained whilst on their own shop-floor.• All training is therefore absolutely relevant and actionable.

• Visual merchandising skills, disciplines & practices• Visual merchandising store layout awareness training• Visual Merchandising store moves & monthly, weekly,

daily product changes• Visual Merchandising compliance and correction• Communication & Demonstration of new product

information, features and benefits• Store operation tasks, procedures & processes• Customer service skills training & demonstrations

Why the growing importance of store based training?

1. Store based training has become more practical & cost effectiveas store portfolios have grown more dispersed and storedemographics and assortment grading more diverse

2. In modern retail, high speed consumer & product dynamicshave made formal, classroom based training cumbersome andquickly outdated, whilst ongoing informal training has becomemore efficient and relevant.

3. In this diverse, dynamic market – “education & informal training”has become more effective and successful than“rigid instruction & compliance!”

Paradoxically as it becomes harder to communicate to, andcontrol, a wider variety of store situations, it has becomemore important than ever to do so, to create brandconsistency and increased commerciality across them.

VMRemote - Bridging the gap between essentialtraining and the necessity to reduce costs





VM-unleashed unlocks the multi-channel profit potential of retailers by

integrating the buying, visual merchandising and selling functions, for

traditional stores and on-line channels.

which product?

how much of it?

how to segment and group it?

how to display and communicate it?

how to promote and sell it!

...and how to make it happen in your company?

Space planning & allocation

maximising sales/profit productivity per sqm., space density and store

capacities – store grading, square metre to linear metre conversion,

store & web space allocation, fixture capacity and design flexibility.

Assortment structure display

Segmenting the assortment for customer ease-of-shop, balancing

product story types, defining construction of options within stories,

planning the flow of goods to construct and fragment stories.

Store layout & web architecture

Segmentation, architecture and intuitive navigation, sightlines and

focal point planning, best seller merchandising, “contact points” to

stimulate impulse purchasing, cross-merchandising.

Visual Merchandising

Commercial display with optimum option and unit densities, creative

display for maximum rates of sales, integration of actual and planned

best sellers, image makers, high & low margin product.

Retail Calendar, Events & Promotions

sales promotion strategies and calendars, price & promotional

communication, stimulating the assortment, controlling store & web

space, time and graphic communication, dynamic promotional

layering, window strategy & display, store & website promotional

journey, e-newsletter delivery.

VM tools & processes, team structure & training

developing guidelines & manuals, space plans & zoning, developing

store regimes and routines, instilling a culture of visual merchandising

“from boardroom to stockroom!”, improving visual merchandising skills

in-store, developing & delivering training programmes.

…for more information please call Tim Radley

+44 (0)7967 609849.

delivering your store selling fundamentals

- making the most of what retailers have

VM-unleashed is a retail

specialist consultancy working

with clients throughout Europe

on training & implementation.

Tim Radley is the founder and

Managing Director and has

been working with best practice

European retailers for over 20

years including:-.

All Saints, Camper, Boots,

Carrefour, Primark, Otto

Versand, Cortefiel, Oviesse,

Coin, Springfield, Motivi,

Adidas, Sonae, Alessi, Aena,

Marks & Spencer, KappAhl,

Imaginarium, Porcelanosa,

Clarks, Aldeasa, Pepe Jeans,

Trucco, Sony, Koton, Oltre,

GasNatural, Orange…

VM-unleashed Ltd!11 Moat FarmRoyal Tunbridge WellsKent TN2 5XGUK

Tim RadleyManaging [email protected]+44 (0)7967 609849www.vm-unleashed.com

pinpointing & delivering ROI opportunities in physical & online stores


Business

Retail Training Structures & Processes - Insights that Ignite No.9