A retail supplier will realise enormous benefits in training and retention by introducing an LMS into their operations. But why are more retail businesses investing in an LMS, and how does it contribute to business growth? This article will answer those questions and more.
What does LMS stand for in business?
In the past, retail training meant that existing staff or new hires would physically meet at a central location where they would receive training from an instructor.
In today's digitally connected world, implementing an LMS means retail employees no longer have to travel miles out of their way, nor are they required to meet up simultaneously at a specific and possibly inconvenient time.
LMS stands for Learning Management System and refers to software capable of digitally delivering course materials in a highly structured format to retail employees. The capacity to educate employees and induct new hires – wherever they can access a computer, at any time – provides significant advantages to retailers.
Why introduce an LMS to your retail business?
An LMS for retail business means retailers can offer high-quality retail training modules at a fraction of the cost of sending employees off to a remote classroom. Most SMEs in the retail sector lack the funding for the HR department or HR officer usually responsible for managing retail industry training.
With a retail business LMS, there's no need to add the extra expense of an HR consultant to manage training retail employees, as the LMS can efficiently deliver instructional material online through an eLearning environment. Employees can conduct their training during regular work hours or even during their off-hours if suitable compensation exists.
Retail management training
An LMS for sales training could encompass a wide variety of curriculums. The retail management training program could deliver customer service expertise, get employees up to speed on a new product or business system, or add to an employee's skill set so they can take on more diverse roles. Employees wishing to progress in the company could use a retail LMS to study management principles which would put them in line for a promotion.
Training challenges in retail
The retail sector is one of the largest employers, but the industry also suffers from a high staff turnover. By some accounts, the turnover is as much as 40%. Retailers face many challenges in getting new staff onboarded quickly to improve their profit margins. Unfortunately, the time for a new hire to develop optimum efficiency is about 23 weeks.
Larger retail chains also incur high costs while using traditional retail training programs to get staff up to speed. There is a significant logistical challenge to gathering a large group of people spread over a wide geographical area into a central location simultaneously.
LMS benefits and key features for the retail industry
LMS for retail can be beneficial in accelerating training and getting staff up to optimal capacity much faster than traditional training would allow. Digital training lowers costs and reduces staff downtime.
Businesses can deliver retail LMS training programmes in-store, and employees do not have to take days or weeks off to complete their training.
The retail industry faces regulatory changes in state and federal laws and trade policies that can impact how they conduct business. Retail learning software can ensure employees are aware of these changes so the company can avoid possible penalties and legal issues.
Selecting the best LMS for retail business
A learning management system for retail business is a cost-effective solution for delivering quality training to employees, junior managers, and new hires without the logistical challenges associated with a physical and time-critical classroom scenario.
Book a free demo today to discover more about how you can quickly train a more efficient, cost-effective workforce for your business today.
