THE AGILE RETAIL MANIFESTO: WHAT’S DIFFERENT?
The customer comes first
Customer feedback is sacred – and responding to it quickly is vital. Thankfully, it has never been easier to access and interpret customer data. Don’t just sit on it – dig into it: what is it telling you about what can be changed today, this week, this month?
Flat hierarchies
The key to agility is the removal of hierarchies. The aim is to replace supervisors with smaller, dynamic teams. This can enable sales teams to work more autonomously on the shop floor: as they are in direct contact with customers, they have the knowledge to make decisions about product ranges, procedures or new services independently of their superiors.
More responsibilities for staff
With the old hierarchies gone, responsibilities need to be shared differently. Agile retail relies on competent staff at all levels. Managers first need to learn agility and self-organization so that they can then help their employees assume their new responsibilities. Communication during transformation is essential as many are at first wary of change.
Regular feedback loops
Make progress visible for your team: use a board so that everyone can see completed tasks, to-dos and who’s doing what. And introduce feedback loops: every two weeks a team discusses what’s working and what could be improved. Each time up to three specific suggestions are proposed that will be incorporated and implemented in the weeks that follow. This allows processes to be constantly optimized.
Regular data analysis >> altered product line planning
Greater agility will also have an impact on your range: shorter lead times and smaller order sizes mean capsule collections and drops will spark greater interest. Agile retailers regularly analyze data to instantly see what isn’t working and which products need to be reordered or promoted.
Technology >> acceleration
New technologies aid implementation, whether it’s real-time communication within teams with messaging services like WhatsApp or Threema, the quick taking and adjusting of stock, tools to enhance the shopping experience or AI, which can replace lengthy or complicated processes.
Steady but flexible
Being an agile retailer means constantly having to abandon plans. A culture of failure – and learning from mistakes – is central to the agile approach.