Preparing your frontline for the future of retail in the U.K.

High street habits change faster than London Fashion Week trends. Not just because of the rise of online shopping and click-and-collect, but also increasingly tech-savvy shoppers and, of course, AI. 

These fundamental shifts across the U.K. retail industry mean the ways that consumers interact with brands, both in-store and online, are evolving—and if retailers want to keep up, they have to keep their frontline staff up to speed on navigating these new realities. 

In partnership with Retail Gazette, we recently explored how to best prepare your associates and managers to meet the demands of the modern consumer. 

Here’s an overview of the challenges and opportunities facing retailers today and our #1 learning recommendation for keeping your workforce strong and adaptable in the face of change:

Changing times and shopper trends

Whether shopping in-store or online, consumers want their experiences to be quick, seamless and pleasant. Organisations need their teams to become experts at delivering personalised, hybrid experiences that make the most of in-store tech resources and AI to leave a lasting impression.

An increased need for retail agility

Frontline retail workers are more than just cashiers or shelf-stockers. They’re expected to act as brand ambassadors, IT troubleshooters and customer experience experts—all rolled into one! To excel in these broadened roles, staff need to know how to go beyond the checklist—a skill they can learn with relevant omnichannel retail training and development opportunities.

How microlearning helps teams stay sharp

One-off, lengthy training days and dense manuals don’t work in busy retail environments, especially because time on the floor serving shoppers is so precious. Microlearning is a great option for fitting training into the workflow as it’s broken down into more focused, manageable and quick-hitting training sessions, typically taking just under 10 minutes to complete. 

There are many benefits to using microlearning for training and professional development, some of which include:

• Improved knowledge retention, job satisfaction, customer service outcomes, productivity and employee engagement
• Reduced training costs, onboarding time and time to create and deploy new content
• More targeted, outcome-focused learning and development programmes that can adapt to your unique business needs (like product launches, evolving shopper preferences and compliance requirements)
• Better reporting to measure whether a specific learning outcome is being achieved and reveal participation trends and potential knowledge gaps

Better yet, you can get a microlearning strategy up and running quickly by repurposing and breathing new life into the content you already have.

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The future of retail is already here. And it’s not just about having the latest tech or following the newest leadership fad. To succeed long-term, you need to properly enable your workforce so they’re empowered, engaged and ready to deliver exceptional shopper experiences—no matter what comes their way. 

In the full report, we outline top insights, practical steps to build your own effective microlearning programme and share impactful case studies from major brands achieving impressive results. Check it out here.