The retail {industry} has modified dramatically over the previous few years on account of provide chain disruptions, financial fluctuations, and altering buyer calls for. As retailers expertise rising strain to do extra with much less, their resilient frontline workers have stored them afloat. From stocking stock and helping prospects to delivering vacation orders, retail staff have been a cornerstone of the sector’s success.
Now greater than ever, leaders want revolutionary digital instruments for his or her frontline workforce that assist enhance communication, operations, and office tradition. In truth, one-third of all frontline staff say they don’t have the correct technological instruments to do their jobs successfully; that quantity rises to 41 % for non-management positions.1
To assist organizations shut this hole, we proceed to put money into Microsoft Teams and different Microsoft 365 choices, like Outlook and SharePoint. This week on the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2023, we’re asserting new options designed to allow simpler communication, streamlined operations, linked worker experiences, and enhanced safety for shared gadgets.
Check out a preview of the most recent Microsoft 365 and Teams improvements that we’ll be showcasing at NRF right here.
Connect retailer groups with trendy communication
We know that efficient communication is vital in your frontline in an period of fixing work patterns. Without the correct expertise, retailer associates are sometimes left feeling disconnected and underappreciated, which can result in excessive worker turnover. Sixty-one % of retail staff say messages from management don’t make it to them, and 31 % consider their voice isn’t being heard when speaking about office points.1
To assist retailer associates keep linked, we’re enhancing Teams Walkie Talkie with two new options: immediate to hitch and transmission utilization report. With immediate to hitch, the Walkie Talkie system will robotically choose the final channel in use. Meanwhile, IT admins will have the ability to get a downloadable report back to view general utilization and name high quality. Prompt to hitch is usually obtainable, and the transmission utilization report function will start rolling out in February 2023.
All these Walkie Talkie enhancements will likely be obtainable on gadgets from our industry-leading companions together with Honeywell, Samsung, and Zebra Technologies. Each system comes with devoted buttons to allow direct push-to-talk communications, eradicating the necessity for separate cumbersome radios.
One instance of a model that has capitalized on the advantages of recent collaboration instruments is L’Oréal. The world magnificence firm wanted a approach to assist its frontline magnificence advisors in retail areas higher hook up with the enterprise and one another. L’Oréal rolled out Teams, empowering the sweetness advisors to share insights from the store ground with headquarters in actual time, construct a way of belonging to particular person manufacturers, and ship distinctive buyer experiences.
“I’m better connected with other beauty advisors now that we all use Teams.”—Jenifer Hart, Multi-brand Beauty Advisor, L’Oréal Luxe.
Similarly, Ahold Delhaize, the fourth largest retail model globally, is leveraging Teams to empower frontline staff of their Alfa Beta grocery retailer chain based mostly in Greece. Before adopting Teams, their retailer staff confronted limitations to real-time communication and sometimes wasted time ready for the knowledge they wanted. They now use Teams for his or her 300 retailer managers which permits for real-time communication from their shops to headquarters and different managers.
“Teams allows different departments to communicate information to stores via the same communication channel, ultimately increasing our collaboration and productivity.”—Timos Valsamakis, a supervisor of the Vrilissia retailer, Alfa Beta.
Microsoft Teams
Unify your group’s communications and enterprise processes onto one safe platform.
Reimagine retail retailer operations so workers can give attention to prospects
Many frontline staff nonetheless depend on outdated instruments and handbook updates to remain in sync and achieve their work.
At NRF, we’ll showcase the right way to reimagine your retailer operations with out-of-the-box functions, similar to Shifts, Tasks, and Updates in Microsoft Teams. Organizations can also leverage Microsoft Power Apps to create customizable low-code apps that align with your small business processes and empower retailer associates.
At Microsoft Ignite 2022, we launched our partnership with UKG, a pacesetter in human capital and workforce administration with over 70,000 prospects in 150 international locations. We’ve co-engineered the Teams Shifts connector for UKG Dimensions to offer frontline staff the flexibility to view and settle for open shifts, request break day, clock out and in, and extra. The connector is now typically obtainable and joins our ecosystem of Shifts connectors together with Blue Yonder and Zebra Technologies.
The Updates app in Microsoft Teams is an out-of-the-box app that enables retailer associates to finish retailer opening and shutting checklists within the circulation of labor. Coming January 2023, we’re including deep hyperlink sharing to the Updates app so your group can shortly create a hyperlink for a particular replace and share it with anybody.
To assist retailer associates save time, organizations can now automate their workflows by triggers and actions with the Updates Power Automate connector, which will likely be typically obtainable in February 2023.
Before launching Teams for retail, workers at River Island, the London-based vogue model, used a multiple-step course of to allocate duties from the company stage to the store ground. Leadership wished to shift to a extra environment friendly, correct method, so River Island switched to utilizing Microsoft Tasks in Teams for a streamlined, constant course of.
“Using Tasks makes things more seamless for everyone involved. I can delegate tasks and check completion easily.”—Kerrie Toll, Store Leader, River Island King’s Lynn.
Task administration in Microsoft 365
Access and replace your duties as you’re employed, irrespective of which app you’re utilizing.
Deliver a remodeled retail worker expertise
Frontline workers at this time need greater than a paycheck. They desire a sense of worth and satisfaction in a job effectively finished. Yet, 62 % of retail staff say management doesn’t prioritize constructing tradition. Our analysis additionally reveals a urgent must focus extra on the well-being of frontline staff, as 51 % in non-management positions don’t really feel valued as workers, and lots of want extra was being finished to assist with bodily exhaustion or to help psychological well being.1
To drive optimistic outcomes for workers, prospects, and their shops’ backside line, leaders can prioritize tradition and engagement whereas investing in expertise that permits frontline staff to thrive. Features like Microsoft Viva in Teams give retailers a chance to bridge gaps between management and frontline staff.
Microsoft Viva Connections
To assist enhance the frontline retail employee worker expertise, Microsoft Viva Connections pre-configuration for frontline staff is now obtainable in preview. This expertise pins Viva Connections to the app tray and gives a simplified dashboard that features related adaptive playing cards for Shifts, Tasks, Approvals, and Top News, offering a fast approach to entry these key workflows and assets. IT professionals can customise the expertise to satisfy the precise wants of the frontline staff of their group. Users licensed with a Microsoft 365 F-SKU will quickly see this because the default expertise in Teams, providing a centralized location to seek out key data at workers’ fingertips.
Microsoft Viva Engage
Stories in Microsoft Viva Engage is now in preview. With Viva Engage, workers can be part of and take part in communities to contribute to firm discussions. Frontline retail staff can use Stories and Storylines to unlock new methods to share, join with their friends, and categorical themselves.
Microsoft Viva Learning
With the new residence web page expertise within the Viva Learning cell app, now typically obtainable, workers can extra simply entry coaching assignments and browse studying content material on the go. They can open Viva Learning from inside the Teams app and see a snapshot of upcoming assignments, bookmarked studying content material, and personalised suggestions.
Watch the Viva Learning cell demonstration.
IKEA, based mostly in Sweden, reinvented the furnishings enterprise with its famously low-priced furnishings that prospects assemble themselves. Looking to enhance retail coworkers’ engagement and incorporate extra environmentally aware enterprise practices, the corporate deployed Microsoft 365 to its 166,000 workers. They have shortly adopted Teams to collaborate internally and externally, with the Teams cell app particularly interesting to retailer coworkers.
“Thanks to Microsoft Teams, we’ve adopted new working styles, which have reduced travel and supported people to achieve a better work-life balance.”—Jesper Brodin, Chief Executive Officer, Ingka Group, IKEA franchisee.
Seamlessly deploy and use Microsoft 365 apps on shared gadgets
It’s vital to allow the creation of safe communications throughout the retail worth chain with a sturdy posture of built-in compliance and id administration instruments.
Retailers typically provide cell gadgets to frontline staff that should be shared throughout workers and between shifts. Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) shared system mode allows straightforward sign-in and sign-out for apps configured to help this function. Shared system mode help for securely accessing Microsoft Outlook, Edge, Yammer, and Power Apps apps on Android gadgets is in preview beginning in January 2023. On iOS gadgets, shared system mode help on Microsoft Intune for securely accessing Teams will likely be in preview beginning in February 2023. Retailers utilizing SOTI and VMware Workspace ONE as their third-party unified endpoint administration options for Android may also enroll gadgets in Azure AD with shared system mode. VMWare Workspace ONE’s help for shared system mode is in preview beginning February 2023. SOTI’s help for shared system mode is in preview beginning January 2023 and usually obtainable in September 2023. Learn extra about shared system mode.
We’re additionally offering a pattern utility by GitHub that prospects can use so as to add QR-based authentication to their very own functions, typically obtainable this month in January 2023. Users will now not must kind their full username when logging right into a shared system.
Deploying Outlook at scale
Today, IT admins should navigate a number of platforms to roll out options for his or her frontline workforce. Deploying Outlook at scale permits IT admins to make use of the Microsoft 365 admin middle as a single hub for IT administration, which will likely be in preview in February 2023. We are previewing two new options in February. With viewers focusing on in Outlook, prospects can simply ship focused emails, filtering the frontline recipients by job operate, location, and division to make sure their messages attain the meant viewers. With group mailboxes, IT admins can provide every division a unified voice, permitting frontline groups to contact one another with ease. Read extra on the right way to get began with deploying Outlook at scale.
Meet us at NRF to start out empowering your frontline
The retail {industry}, which can convene in particular person in New York after three difficult years, has by no means been extra resilient or prepared for innovation. From enhancing day-to-day operations and serving to reduce the burden of the labor hole to in the end enhancing the shopper expertise, we stay dedicated to serving to frontline staff thrive in at this time’s digitally linked, distributed world of labor.
Join us on the NRF expo in New York from January 14 to 17, 2023, to be taught in regards to the newest frontline expertise to drive success in your group.
To be taught extra, learn the Microsoft Cloud for Retail weblog.
Transform and unify your frontline workforce with Microsoft Teams.
1Technology may also help unlock a brand new future for frontline staff, WorkLab, Work Trend Index Special Report, Microsoft. January 12, 2022.