Retail roundtable – how can technology better support frontline workers amid budget pressures and rising industry costs?
In UK retail organisations, frontline workers play a pivotal role in business success. But, in a challenging environment, what efficiency and effectiveness barriers do retailers and their teams face, and how is technology bridging the gap between objectives, resources and results?
A recent roundtable organised by WorkJam looked at these issues in more detail, drawing on the experiences of retailers and industry experts, including Marks and Spencer, The Midcounties Co-operative and ReThink Productivity.
Looking at the current challenges of managing frontline workers, Aaron Spicer, Head of Retail Activity and Communication at Marks and Spencer, pointed to rising industry costs and higher taxes as an important factor in driving efficiency.
“We have to find more efficient ways to do things while still offering great value products to our customers, including increasing the efficiency of the 55,000 colleagues that work in our stores,” he said.
M&S believes increased digital transformation is allowing them to focus on frontline workers more effectively, ensuring they are more productive while giving managers more time to focus on leadership and coaching.
For Chris Chandler, Head of Store Support at The Midcounties Co-operative, the October 2024 budget made a significant impact on his organisation’s strategic planning and the emphasis they were placing on frontline efficiency.
“After the budget, we ripped up half of our capital plans for next year, focusing instead on investments that drive productivity,” he said. “For example, we’re looking at more self-checkouts, automating manual processes like temperature checks and using technology to streamline task management. It’s not just about freeing up wages – it’s about freeing up colleagues to focus on delivering the best front-end service under increasing pressure.”
The change in emphasis at Midcounties Co-operative is echoed across the wider industry. As Simon Hedaux, Co-Founder of ReThink Productivity and Chair UKMTM Association, pointed out, the National Insurance changes were unexpected and significant.
He said: “The big thing that the industry didn’t see coming was the drop in the entry-level to NI, which in effect means everybody in any organisation, retail, hospitality outside of that is now going to be eligible for employer NI. That’s a big cost that no one predicted ahead of time. To help counter these pressures, organisations need to use technology to identify the tasks that add value, value to customers and value to the business, being really clear on what’s optional and trying to stop the cascade of information that comes down, which impacts efficiency.”
Digital transformation
On a practical level, Marks and Spencer have focused their frontline efficiency efforts on a range of digital transformation priorities such as the siloed nature of their systems and processes, which have contributed to the complexity of frontline roles.
“Our focus now is to simplify these processes by bringing everything into one platform so our colleagues can concentrate on serving customers,” Spicer explained. “During our trial of the WorkJam platform, for example, we found that we were saving management time by around 45 minutes a week. Now, in itself, it doesn’t sound huge, but when you apply that across 4,000 to 5,000 managers every single week, and for the level of things that we ask them to do, it’s a big deal.”
For Midcounties Co-op, the emphasis is also on increasing the role of automation to reduce repetitive tasks and free up time for customer interaction. “We’re looking at automating temperature checks and integrating IoT alerts directly into our task management technology,” said Chandler. “This ensures colleagues only focus on issues that really require attention, making their roles more productive and customer-oriented.”
It’s a similar story at Marks and Spencer where Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are being used to monitor refrigeration systems to prevent stock loss.
Spicer explained: “We’re using IoT to support frontline teams, such as monitoring. Instead of manual checks, the system creates a notification or task for action only when there’s an issue, saving time and improving focus. On the customer side, social media trends have a massive impact – something trending on TikTok can spike sales overnight, as was the case with our cookie sales, which rose 150% after a TikTok video went viral. We rely on our software tools to help us respond to these trends by delivering timely updates to frontline colleagues.”
Also driving the approach retailers take to digital transformation are customer habits. “With fewer people at traditional tills and more using self-checkout,” said Hedaux, “the challenge is ensuring the customer experience doesn’t suffer. Technology, such as dynamic pricing or AI for stock management, will help streamline processes and ensure the right people are in the right place. But the key is balancing automation with the human touch – because fewer colleagues on the floor can impact customer satisfaction.”
These concerns also extend to other areas, such as store security and theft. “There’s a fine line between efficiency and risk, especially during peak times,” added Hedaux. “If we reduce frontline staff too much, we open the door to theft, as people on the floor are the biggest deterrent. That’s why balancing efficiency through investment in software tools alongside security measures, such as AI-integrated loss prevention systems, is critical for protecting margins while maintaining service levels.”
