Retailers have mastered the art of capturing Gen-Z consumers online. Nevertheless, there is fierce competition to come up with marketing stunts that draw shoppers back to physical retail locations. From flagships offering complimentary artisanal lattes to entire concept stores painted monochromatic neon, retailers are peacocking to peak customer interest. During my typical Saturday morning walk through New York’s SoHo it’s more common than not to see flocks of shoppers waiting for their chance to Instagram these trendy installations. Yet, once inside, the generally poor service makes one thing abundantly clear. Retailers have been far less successful in creating a meaningful employee experience for this generation in the workforce.

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La Perla

The challenges

With a reputation for low compensation, excessive hours and poor working conditions, retail work is lackluster and unevolved in 2022. It is of little surprise that retail employee turnover rates are higher and talent pools are smaller than pre-pandemic levels, or that in-person shopping experiences have become largely transactional and mundane. Although marketing gets the customer through the door, their experience with products and services once inside dictates the consumer’s ultimate judgement of a brand and its culture. It’s time that retailers improved the employee work experience to boost customer perception, increase brand buy-in, and drive sales.

So, how can retailers address this challenge and incentivize employees to stay and grow within a company? 

Current employer-employee relationships

Transient retail employer-employee relationships begin with a fundamental lack of contractual commitment. On the one hand, many retail employees view their retail jobs as a side hustle or means-to-an-end, not as the foundation for a meaningful career. On the other, retailers are reflecting and projecting that sentiment by offering employees hourly wages, minimal training or benefits, and part-time employment—none of which quite scream ‘commitment.’ Cumulatively, it is reasonable neither party is willing to make the leap toward more significant investments, lending to the poor industry retention rates. 

Engaging your workforce

Profit and loss determine the existence of a company and employees are a supporting beam of the customer experiences making profit possible. In his book How to be Rich, J. Paul Getty explains how many of his employees often left the comforts of corporate oil rigs to work for him despite a comparative lack of ‘perks.’ Men chose to work for Getty because they got the feeling, “of what close teamwork and mutual confidence in the boss and crew could accomplish,” which ultimately produced a more meaningful work experience under tough working conditions. 

Side by side, retail work and oil drilling are vastly different. However, some of the most successful retailers have taken a similar approach to curating the employee work experience. Zumiez is one retailer that has cracked the code, driving human to human experience in their stores to build community and grow sales. Customers become salespeople who are inspired to be entrepreneurs and use their creativity to drive sales. A former employee even boasts, “all my coworkers were hysterical and made every shift fun. What keeps people there is the constant opportunity for promotion,” and something tells me she was not the only one who felt this way. Going beyond higher pay and improved baseline benefits, retailers who struggle to retain employees can solve this challenge by drawing from similar entrepreneurial playbooks to offer growth-enabling and valuable work experiences for employees. 

Making it retail ready

Here are some ways retailers can make simple, entrepreneurial, changes to improve employee experiences: 

  1. Listen and respond to the demands of a new generation of employees

Youth is not wasted on the young; give retail employees the opportunity to express their skills and passions. Generate reward systems for employees who want to showcase outfits or recipes using retailer products on TikTok. Provide opportunities to make work feel exciting outside the nine-to-five. 

  1. Offer commitment for employees looking to commit 

Pay to play, skin in the game, call it what you want. If retailers want a committed employee, they must extend the olive branch. While an employee may excite over extra paid time off or healthcare, entrepreneurs look for stake in a company that reflects their investment of time and effort. For publicly traded retailers, offer stock buy-in programs or reward highly rated employees with options that vest after a certain period. Commit to trajectories for employee growth such as early access to non-retail job opening in pertinent roles (marketing, merchandising, styling assistant, design teams, buying, etc.) or business acumen education. Show employees that they are an asset to growth, so long as they want to be.

  1. Trade in rigidity for flexibility 

Retail requires employees to show up in-person and on a schedule. For many, the predictability of a schedule is assuring. For entrepreneurs, and particularly the young, more dynamic lifestyles call. Once employees have paid their dues on the floor, give them an opportunity to explore. For retailers with numerous locations, offer sabbaticals to work from other retail locations. Smaller businesses can offer retail employees to join on trade circuits to help discover and procure new offerings. For people looking to stay in place, companies should consider how they can offer flexible scheduling or types of work for employees. 

  1. Community fosters commitment 

Entrepreneurs rely on a strong community and network to run successful businesses and grow their endeavors. A sense of belonging combats the ‘means-to-an-end’ sentiment experienced by many retail employees. When companies foster community across all levels of the business, from the ground to c-suite, employees can feel at home while finding opportunities to network and develop careers naturally. Offering socials that intermingle different grades and job functions or events that draw people together for non-work-related reasons promote a valuable sense of belonging. 

And the result?

By understanding who companies are trying to employ and offering compatible ways of work, retail has an opportunity to bring back meaningful work and long-term retention. Injecting entrepreneurial ways of work into a typical employee experience encourages employees to stay with companies and envision internal growth. Coupling the freedom of employee boundaries with the ‘edge’ of being an entrepreneur will make each workday a self-expansive experience.

Ultimately, designing a retail experience that looks as good as it feels will provide the top-tier experience customers demand in physical retail environments.