Along with the many new ways of shopping, the role of store personnel continues to evolve.
Gone are the days of pushy sales staff and the need to provide lots of pre-sales information about a product. According to multiple studies, around 80% of shoppers today will have fully researched a product online before visiting a store. An Opinion Way study in France found that 86% of shoppers look at customer reviews and opinions before deciding to buy. Store associates now have to wear many hats: from sales advisors and experts to digital savvy brand ambassadors and community leaders.
The retail expert, Régine Vanheemsn, co-founder of the Connected Commerce Observatory, says in her book ‘Knowing how to advise and sell in a post-digital era’, that online sites have caused a lot of concern and upheaval among retail salespeople: “Online has radically changed the retail profession without anyone actually realising it (…). This caused a tsunami in retail,” even before things got more shaken up by Covid and multiple store lockdowns.
“Online has radically changed the retail profession without anyone actually realising it (…). This caused a tsunami in retail,” even before things got more shaken up by Covid and multiple store lockdowns.
At the French retailer, TAO, Guillaume Porquier suggests providing additional training for staff, explaining that:
"Networking with customers on social media is now part of the store salesperson's job.
For us, every store has a trained Instagram person responsible for monitoring activity on social networks, which requires a fair amount of coaching and support.”
Online has radically changed the retail profession without anyone actually realising it (…). This caused a tsunami in retail.
