Retail WFM: The Software Every Retailer Needs for Success

Every retailer truly needs modern retail workforce management (WFM) software. It has become an indispensable tool in today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving retail industry. As customer expectations continue to rise, retailers must adapt by leveraging cutting-edge retail WFM solutions to stay competitive.

With Legion’s modern retail WFM, you can streamline processes with intelligent automation, provide real-time insights into employee performance, improve productivity, and improve employee engagement. Employees love having greater schedule flexibility and control, instant access to earned wages, and modern communication tools.

Our goal? Equip you to navigate operational challenges and improve employee engagement. And perhaps more importantly – get employees to love their workplace and empower them to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

 

 

The Evolution of Retail

As the retail industry has evolved, complexity has increased and demand patterns have shifted. Customers now want a friction-free shopping experience, especially with the rise in popularity of online shopping and buy online pick up in store (BOPIS) options. Retailers have to evolve and ensure their in-store experience is as seamless as possible.

How can business leaders accomplish this? Modern retail WFM platforms like Legion WFM are designed to give your employees the best chance for success right from the start.

They help you spend more time where it counts – focusing on maximizing profits and engaging your team.

Make the Most Out Of Your Resources

Especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing labor shortages continue to be prevalent. According to a recent study by McKinsey, 49% of retail employees are considering leaving the industry altogether, compared to just 38% of employees in other industries.

Today, retail employees are demanding gig-like flexibility and more fulfilling work. They expect better wages, growth opportunities and wellness benefits. They want to work for brands they believe in, and that will believe in them.

Legion’s retail WFM offers intelligent automation and employee-centric features for businesses looking to optimize their operations. By automating routine tasks and providing valuable insights, our tools enable businesses to maximize efficiency and engagement and stay ahead of the curve.

Your Legacy WFM Is Holding You Back

Today we know there are great benefits from matching company needs with employee skills and preferences. Legacy WFM solutions were designed primarily for cost optimization, often at the expense of employee satisfaction and engagement.

Outdated systems also lack advanced data science capabilities and adaptability, making them less effective in optimizing labor resources and predicting demand patterns.

Intelligent automation powered by modern workforce management is the future. It’s time to use systems that actually address employee wants and needs.

What would it mean for your bottom line if you could increase your demand forecast accuracy by 10%?

In our Forrester TEI, we found that a company with 10,000 employees moving from a legacy system to Legion would save $6M over 3 years. How? Schedule optimization resulting from an increase in forecast accuracy. We also found this increase in accuracy resulted in 5X ROI.

Today’s retailers need to continually evolve to meet their customers’ needs. Legion WFM creates and executes optimized labor plans for every retail location and customer touchpoint. Using historical sales data, information about local events, weather, holidays, and more, combined with machine learning algorithms, our workforce software can accurately predict future staffing needs.

In today’s competitive retail landscape, embracing automation is no longer optional – it’s essential for success. By leveraging retail WFM tools like demand forecasting, retail companies not only save valuable time but also improve overall efficiency and productivity.

Intelligent, Automated, Employee-Centric Workforce Management

Modern retail WFM platforms like Legion provide real-time insights into employee performance, allowing managers to quickly identify areas for improvement and take corrective action. With advanced analytics, retail companies can monitor productivity levels, attendance patterns, and job satisfaction.

The Benefits of Real-Time Insights

• Better decision-making: Up-to-date information on employee performance enables managers to make informed decisions about staffing needs and training programs.
• Effortless time tracking: With automated time tracking features, employees can easily clock in and out using their mobile devices or designated terminals within the store. This eliminates manual errors and streamlines payroll processing.
• Seamless payroll processing: Integrating your WFM software with your existing payroll system simplifies the process of calculating wages, taxes, deductions, and overtime pay. It automatically imports data from time-tracking records into your payroll platform.
• Faster response times: Real-time data allows for quick identification and resolution of workplace issues before they escalate.
• Informed scheduling: Retail WFM software generates schedules based on factors like employee availability, skill sets, and store traffic patterns. This ensures optimal staffing levels at all times while minimizing labor costs.

Legion WFM gives you the best of both worlds. It simultaneously maximizes labor efficiency and employee engagement.

Boost Productivity with Analytics

Retail WFM’s analytics capabilities play a crucial role in driving productivity and efficiency across your retail organization. Analytics help you track key metrics to gauge the effectiveness of customer service efforts and labor costs. Managers can easily identify areas of improvement and make data-driven decisions to increase overall productivity.

Here are some ways that analytics can help improve your retail operations:

Labor Cost Analysis

Retail WFM allows you to monitor labor costs in real time, helping you optimize staffing levels based on demand patterns. This ensures that you’re not overstaffing or understaffing during peak hours or slow periods. By keeping labor costs in check, you can allocate resources more effectively and maximize profits.

Sales Performance Monitoring

With sales performance analytics built into your WFM, managers can easily track store-level sales trends and compare them against targets or historical data. It can help managers identify underperforming stores or departments. Monitoring sales performance also allows you to make informed decisions about inventory management, pricing, and promotions.

Employee Engagement

Track and evaluate essential employee engagement indicators, including the number of new hires onboarded, active employees, claimed shifts, accepted swap offers, views on newsfeed posts, and other relevant metrics. This will help identify areas for improvement in engagement more easily.

Enhance Communication with Modern Tools

With the right retail WFM software, teams can easily communicate across departments and locations, ensuring everyone stays on track with projects or initiatives.

Our digital communication tools make employee communication seamless, and foster trust, transparency, and engagement among everyone. Through our employee mobile app, associates can pick and swap shifts at various locations, as well as message their coworkers.

Employees also receive instant access to their earned wages from the same mobile app they use to view their schedules. They’re able to see potential earning estimates on open shifts, encouraging more shifts to be filled.

Today’s workforce wants one intelligent app – not multiple – for all of their workplace needs. An effective retail workforce management solution not only drives growth for your business but nurtures an environment where employees feel connected and engaged.

FAQs About Retail WFM

You don’t have to choose between ensuring your employees are happy and maximizing profits. Adapting modern retail workforce management technologies has countless benefits for your business. Here are some of the frequently asked questions we receive about our platform.

How does Legion WFM work?

Legion’s AI based software automatically matches business needs with employees’ skills and preferences to streamline and improve almost all workforce management processes. Legion intelligently automates core time and attendance tasks such as calculating premium pay. Employees get gig-like schedule flexibility and control and modern tools.

Our software synthesizes thousands of data points for each customer location, drawing from past and current event data to predict what will impact demand. From information about customer traffic to sales from different areas of your business, we instantly create the optimal labor plan and schedule.

And in reality, this is just the beginning. Our full suite of WFM tools thoroughly covers all retailer needs.

How has AI impacted retail workforce management software?

Intelligent automation allows managers to be more responsive to employees’ needs and requests – all while increasing the efficiency of how those requests are met. By automating core workforce management tasks and matching business needs with employee skills’ and preferences, AI has improved employee retention and created more opportunities for team building and connection.

Why should I invest in retail WFM for my business?

Retailers are constantly searching for ways to cut costs in today’s economic climate, but with the ongoing labor shortage, they can’t afford to cut frontline resources.

Through the power of intelligent automation, you can transform your business. By being able to accurately anticipate demand, retail WFM takes most of the guesswork out of labor planning. You can spend more time being specific and strategic about how you will grow your business.

Still not sure if you need a workforce management solution? Read our software buyer’s guide to learn more.

Ready to see Legion WFM in Action?

Every retailer can benefit from streamlined operations and improved productivity from retail WFM software. Our platform isn’t just another WFM product – we provide a culture-changing solution that your employees want in their day-to-day routine.

If you’re ready to see how WFM solutions can transform your workforce, schedule a demo with Legion today.