Training is a critical part of a retail business, especially in times of growth and innovation. Businesses have the desire to grow and have loyal, skilled team members to help pave the way for continuous success. However, this can only be achieved if you help your people build business specific skills that are aligned with the long-term vision of the organization.

Retail in specific comes with its fair share of challenges such as:

• Dedicated training hours: It’s not as simple as adding 20 hours for each team member to complete training. It comes down to trackability and accountability of those hours. Retail businesses are motivated by their sales targets, therefore they need to ensure that they can achieve those goals before dedicating time for development.
• Access to technology: Accessing mobile devices on the floor is a change that has not yet been embraced by retail since it is a customer-facing environment. Team members are limited to one or two computers to access knowledge making obtaining knowledge quite difficult. Retail is a high turnover market, which can add challenges relieving team members from the floor and requiring them to use a computer because serving customers comes first.
• Knowledge transfer: Learning a new system or technology at a computer and transferring that knowledge to the floor is challenging.

For a successful training program, you must align your training approach to the critical factors of your business environment. In our technology era, many organizations, including retail, struggle to stay current with learning technologies that could optimize their training delivery. Introducing new technology to a business is a multi-step process, and by the time the required steps are completed, the technology may or may not be the best in the marketplace.

However, despite common challenges in staying current with new learning tech, it’s critical that you leverage these advanced tools to optimize your training approach so that retail workers can have a wholesome training experience. These innovative technologies can be apart of a blended training program that considers the best training modality for pre-, during and post-training.

Here are some common challenges in retail training:

• Prework for learners: Finding hours to complete prework is always a challenge but as learning designers we take that under consideration. Prework can be a set of microlearning modules with fundamentals or a simple drop sheet that is then integrated into the training to capture those that were not able to complete. Digital adoption platforms, such as WalkMe, Pendo and Opus, can save hours of development time.
• During training: Simulations provide retail staff with a low-risk environment to practice new skills and technologies before applying them on the job. However, developing simulations can be time-consuming, and often the learning team receives the final customized platform too close to implementation, limiting preparation time. Digital adoption platforms streamline development, saving valuable time and enhancing support for post-training activities.
• Post training: Knowledge retention post training can be challenging to measure, especially because it varies by learner. Digital adoption platforms can integrate resources and processes into cloud-based software, allowing learners to access reinforcement learning materials while on the floor. This can help retail businesses mitigate risks due to work error.

Since retail is a high turnover industry, it’s critical that retail businesses turn to learning tech to optimize training delivery and promote a sustainable business with a long-term and highly-skilled workforce. Implementing scalable, tech-based training programs can streamline onboarding and ensure employees are equipped to thrive in the retail environment. By embracing modern learning solutions, retailers can build a stronger team that drives long-term growth and success.