© 2020 Axsium Group

Retail Responds is helping our customers connect and share expertise through regularly-scheduled half-hour online webinars and tactical, high-impact blog posts written by members of our consulting and leadership teams.

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Understanding The Impact Of Coronavirus

Friday, March 27th 



















In this webinar, we discussed:
  • How Coronavirus has impacted people who work in store operations and IT, including the new normal of working from home
  • Some of the unique challenges being faced by retail, grocery, and hospitality
  • What is happening to in-store processes and the impacts on frontline workers and customer flow
  • The impact Coronavirus is having on many retailers’ long-term WFM projects
Axsium will be hosting additional virtual sessions and sharing more thought leadership in the days and weeks ahead.

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Stay Updated on the Latest
WFM Developments Affecting Retail:

How Lessons From History Can Help Guide Us In The Future

Friday, April 3rd 


















In this webinar, we discussed:
  • Transitioning from reacting to the crisis to proactively preparing for the future
  • The impact on consumer behavior following major economic and natural disasters
  • How Coronavirus is affecting the retail landscape now and in the months to come
Preparing to Re-Open in the "New Normal"

Thursday, April 9th 


















In this webinar, we discussed:
  • The in-store processes you'll need to implement as you prepare to re-open
  • Important steps you can take to maximize employee and customer safety
  • How this "New Normal" will impact your people, processes, and technology
COVID-19's Impact on Your Retail Labor Model

Thursday, April 16th 


















In this webinar, we discussed:
  • Modeling entirely new processes relating to health, safety, and changing buying behavior
  • Increasing or decreasing the frequency of existing processes, and phasing out others altogether
  • Creating and staffing entirely new employee roles such as greeters and cleaners
  • Using work measurement tools – such as Opus – to streamline the process of updating your labor model
  • Considering the impacts of of the changes that we haven’t seen yet but are likely to in the weeks ahead
Employee Mobility & 
The Pandemic

by Andrew Martel, Practice Lead

Wednesday, April 22nd 
Whether your organization is open, closed, or something in between, having the ability to communicate with, schedule, and engage employees during the pandemic is now more critical than ever.    

The three blog posts below provide real-world examples of how employee mobility can be used to help you emerge from this challenging period of time stronger than ever!

Pick your industry:  

 
Leveraging Employee Mobility During
The Pandemic


Thursday, April 23rd

















In this webinar, we discussed how an employee mobility solution can enable you to:
  • Support both new and returning employees with mobile training modules
  • Facilitate new health & safety policies using mobile task management
  • Communicate directly with front-line staff, either in-store or furloughed
  • Give staff flexibility to pick and swap shifts with an open shift marketplace
Social Distancing & Flattening the Retail Sales Curve

Thursday, April 30th


















In this webinar, we discussed:
  • The radically different social distancing attitudes we’re seeing in different parts of the country and world
  • How social distancing is affecting the physical flow of customers in your stores
  • Lessons learned from your peers about how to best protect staff and customers
  • Plus, a bold prediction about how social distancing will affect your forecasting and scheduling processes
Employee Mobility in Retail:
Practical Advice from the Frontline


Thursday, May 7th


















In this half-hour webinar, Axsium and WorkJam discuss some of the specific ways that retailers are using employee mobility tools to engage, communicate with, and manage their frontline employees.

We also take a look at how the use case for mobility tools will evolve into the summer as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its next stage, and what you can do to prepare.

Your Plan for Reopening Stores Safely and Efficiently

Thursday, May 14th

















 
In this half-hour session, we discussed: 
  • How will you reopen and keep both employees and customers safe?
  • How will you leverage technology in reopening during the new normal?
  • How will you train employees to perform new, safety-focused tasks?
  • What is contact-tracing, and how can you facilitate it through your WFM solution?
Your Playbook for a Successful Reopening

Thursday, May 21st
















 

In this half-hour webinar, we will help you build a reopening plan that considers:
  • State, Local, and Federal reopening guidelines
  • The sales potential of your different store formats
  • The new revenue streams your stores will rely on to succeed
  • The availability of staff across the locations where you operate
Reengage Your Workforce and Improve Employee Productivity (APAC Webinar) 

Wednesday, May 27th
















 

During this half-hour online webinar, we discuss:
  • How you can implement, or further leverage, your mobility strategy
  • Communication strategies to help employees feel safer at work during COVID-19
  • Ways you can use employee mobility tools to provide training
  • How these tools can help your employees swap shifts to better accommodate availability
What's Next For Retail and COVID-19?
Your 12-Month WFM Roadmap


Thursday, June 4th















 


During this webinar, Axsium unveils a 12-month roadmap for retail workforce management including:
  • What happens after stores reopen and stabilize?
  • How will you react and evolve to changing customer and associate expectations and a potential second wave during the holiday season?
  • What does it take to optimize labor and thrive when costs are under pressure?
The World of Curbside Service: Enhancing In-Store Processes 

Thursday, June 11th














 



During this webinar, we discuss how both technology and process improvement have been helping retailers meet the changing needs of customers. In this webinar, we will:
  • Explore the latest innovations in omnichannel customer experience, whether online or at the curbside
  • Discover how retailers are streamlining in-store fulfillment processes to support higher order volumes
  • +Learn about how technology, such as picking and processing software, can help sustain profitable results
Forecasting and Scheduling
in the Age of COVID-19 


Thursday, June 18th












 




In this webinar, we will discuss:
  • The impact that the pandemic is having on your ability to forecast and schedule labor
  • A "back to basics" approach to create effective forecasts and schedules
  • How retailers will evolve these processes as we enter each new phase of the pandemic
Staffing and Absence Management

Thursday, June 25th











 





In the webinar, we will cover:
  • Reflections from a convenience store retailer on lesson learned so far
  • The specific challenges retailers are facing around staff planning and absence management
  • Predictions for what the future holds as the retail world continues to reopen

Featured Webinar

There is a strong chance your organization has seen costs rise sharply because of the pandemic. Whether those increases are because of cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment or rising labor costs, understanding your COVID Overhead is the first step to finding labor efficiencies, improving wasteful processes and ultimately saving jobs.   
 
The Generational Impacts of COVID-19 in Today's Retail Environment - Axsium Virtual WFM Forum

Thursday, July 13th










 






In the webinar, we will cover:
  • Reflections from a convenience store retailer on lesson learned so far
  • The specific challenges retailers are facing around staff planning and absence management
  • Predictions for what the future holds as the retail world continues to reopen
COVID-Proofing Your Retail Labor Model

Thursday, September 3rd










 





 
A hands-on discussion of the concrete steps you'll need to take to COVID-Proof Your Retail Labor Model. Featuring Axsium’s President Bob Clements and Senior Vice President Robin Merritt, this forward-thinking discussion will cover:
  • What you need to do in the 'here and now' to get your stores running smoothly
  • The societal trends that may impact your labor model in the months ahead
  • New processes that leading retailers will look to operationalize in their stores, like BOPIS, BOPIC, BOSS, etc.
The Future of Forecasting and Scheduling with Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence

Wednesday, December 3rd











 





 
Featuring three of the world's foremost experts on WFM, this webinar will cover:
  • The real-world cost-savings that Machine Learning and AI can deliver for retailers
  • How these innovations will reduce administrative burden for store managers and end-users alike
  • The steps you can take today to prepare your WFM solution for the challenges 2021 will bring
Forecasting and Scheduling in the Age of COVID

Thursday, October 15th












 





During this session we'll equip you with the tools to:
  • Schedule effectively despite low employee availability, increasingly frequent shift swaps, and the need to schedule in teams. 
  • Overcome the impact of bad or missing sales data caused by periods of shutdown and panic-buying during the last six months. 
  • Look into the future and understand the impact that new technology like automation and AI will have on your labor in 2021 and beyond
WFM in 2021: A Review of the Evolving Vendor Landscape

Thursday, February 11th











 




 
A review everything 2021 is bringing to the Workforce Management space, including:
  • A behind-the-scenes look at each vendor's recent innovations and their plans for the future
  • ​​​Expert perspective on what these new functionalities mean for your team and your organization​​​​​​
  • Recommendations about what you can do now to capitalize on these exciting changes
Going Mobile: The Future of Workforce Management

Thursday, April 8th













 



 
In this session we examine the incredible value that mobility will bring to your organization this year, including:
  • The link between mobile scheduling, communication, shift swapping, and your organization’s success.
  • A behind-the-scenes look at the most exciting innovations emerging from the mobile vendor landscape.
  • The building blocks of a high-impact mobile strategy that delivers cost-savings, productivity gains, and real ROI.
Going Mobile: The Future of Workforce Management
 
In this session we examine the incredible value that mobility will bring to your organization this year, including:
  • The link between mobile scheduling, communication, shift swapping, and your organization’s success.
  • A behind-the-scenes look at the most exciting innovations emerging from the mobile vendor landscape.
  • The building blocks of a high-impact mobile strategy that delivers cost-savings, productivity gains, and real ROI.