There’s been a spate of bad news from retailers over the past couple of weeks, with Sainsbury’s announcing it will restructure staffing and Tesco cutting 1,700 shop floor management jobs. Just this morning, M&S announced the closure of up to 14 stores. Chris McCullough, CEO and co-founder at Rotageek commented:
“It’s a worrying sign that every January serious profit warnings, job cuts and store closures are almost a given following disappointing festive sales periods. The future success of the British retail sector relies on all players shifting towards a more proactive mindset to address operational efficiencies ahead of time. With limited scope for investment, retailers must make existing resources go further and find where small changes can make a big difference.
“For example, replacing archaic scheduling systems should be a priority. The people on the ground underpin the entire business, and retailers should incorporate data intelligence into this process to determine the optimal level of staffing needed at any given time. Reactive cost-cutting might appear to help in the short-term, but by using technology in smarter way retailers across the board can minimise surprises and plan ahead.”
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