The retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry has evolved like never before in the last two years. Rising demand, intense competition, digital transformation, AI-driven automation, and post-pandemic shifts in customer preferences force us to rethink the workforce that drives this industry. Walmart will add 150,000 store employees across the United States to its supply chain of 20,000 employees this holiday season alone. That’s over 10% of his US employee base. The US retail and distribution industry is expected to add about 1 million jobs this holiday season alone. Target is adding 100,000 people, UPS and FedEx are adding 190,000 people, and Amazon is adding 125,000 people to its supply chain.
While these are immediate needs, the future needs of the Digital Worker will be driven by technologies that are being adopted or deployed. Commercial drones are expected to see IKEA adopt VR at home centers. Watch, Amazon uses ML-based demand forecasting to make systems and supplies more efficient, Kendra Scott and Etsy use virtual fitting room technology, and NLP-driven chatbots create personalized experiences on his website. provide. Amazon’s Just Walk Out system uses a sophisticated combination of technology, including computer vision systems, machine learning, facial recognition, and IoT devices to free up staff and enable cashierless stores. Safeway is pioneering a new self-driving cart service for delivering groceries to communities. Walmart is preparing to deploy fully autonomous trucks for delivery orders soon. Google already has him working on drone deliveries in 15 minutes
Such changing dynamics, increasing demand and changing technology in the retail industry make it imperative for businesses to rethink their workforce to compensate for growth. Rising demand, changing technology make it imperative for businesses to rethink their workforce to compensate for growth
Four key employee imperatives for adapting to the new normal
1. Redefine roles and provide training
As customer expectations rise, roles are being redefined. Back-office staff (purchasing, inventory/merchandising, engineering, technology, and finance) better understand systems and how they work with new technologies (drone, blockchain, etc.) is needed. Front office staff (sales, technology, and customer service) need to take full ownership as problem solvers and build more empathy, speed, and analytical skills. This requires an end-to-end understanding of business entitlements from supply chain, fulfillment, in-store activity, billing, refunds, and more. Store managers improve store revenue and profitability with AI, ML and real-time data analytics. Returns, chargebacks and fraud are on the rise. Detecting and preventing it helps prevent revenue leaks. Customer sentiment analysis, churn trends, and personalization are key to having more meaningful conversations. The new workforce needs better training (soft skills, products, competition, technology, etc.) to address these requirements.
2. Resource mix optimization and management
of so far Increased demand – both permanent growth and seasonal fluctuations require the right mix of resources – permanent, temporary and bot.A staffing model can be a very complex process to manage. 24/7 operations and shift coverage, overtime, absenteeism, staff reductions, and most of all, skills shortages. New hybrid or telecommuting models further complicate the process. Managing these aspects requires keen forecasting, planning, staffing, and scheduling. A strong workforce management process is the only way to make strategic staffing decisions, streamline staffing, optimize costs and provide business continuity.
3. Increase the intensity of automation
Bots make up the right mix of today’s workforce and will continue to play an important role in the future. Currently, approximately 15-20% of front office activities and up to 40% of back office activities across various functions are automated using RPA and enabling technologies. The ability to scale up your bot through investment in technology, infrastructure, and technical resources is critical to scaling up at a reasonable rate. The emergence of technologies such as blockchain, IoT, AI-ML, and AR-VR require investment in technical resources to power technology-driven change.
4. Upskilling, reskilling, and proper upskilling
As we see store managers liberated with data and real-time analytics, their skills in interpreting and using data become critical. Today, businesses are bombarded with vast amounts of data that must be successfully used to improve customer satisfaction. For example, Walmart has promoted her 200,000 associates to various roles in 2020. Creating a career path through education, the right skills, and role-based training is critical for promoted associates to fulfill their promoted role. With the advent of technology, there is a constant need to upskill your resources to learn new technologies and apply them in their daily work to facilitate effective customer conversations. AT&T believes his 100,000 role on hardware support will be obsolete within the next decade. AT&T has begun a massive retraining of its 250,000 employees, investing $1 billion in him to build the skills needed for the jobs of the future.
Using accurate forecasting, staffing and scheduling processes, Wipro offers all types of resources including full-time, temporary, overtime and flexible staffing for holiday numbers. One of his major US retailers used a hybrid staffing model to seamlessly handle his 50% additional volume during the holiday season. Robust workforce management techniques enabled by the tool ensure improved planning, staffing, scheduling, adherence and output.
Wipro’s Retail Academy is an initiative to advance the hyperskills of resources to meet ever-changing customer demands in the era of the digital revolution. Build a future-ready workforce to support your customer strategies with a focus on providing training on omnichannel strategy management, changing customer mindsets, data analysis and insights, customer loyalty, digital marketing, and more .
Are you ready to leverage our investment to transform your workforce and accelerate your growth plans?
Contact us to find out how Wipro can help you prepare the workforce of the future.
