In a rapidly changing world with narrower margins and more competition, efficiency has never been more important.
Simon Hedaux
By Simon Hedaux, CEO of ReThink Productivity.
It is important to keep costs under control so that you can invest in things that matter most to your customers. An efficient operating model means that you are well positioned to take advantage of new opportunities in a changing world.
Carrying out an efficiency analysis is the key to recognizing opportunities. By transforming time and movement study data into insights, companies can make better decisions.
After working in many retail brands and markets, here are my top tips on how to increase your efficiency:
Warehouse. You want inventory in your workshop and not more than what is required in your backshop. High inventories not only tie up your working capital, but also your teams. The efficient way to manage inventory is to touch an item once when it reaches the shelf from delivery. Additional inventory must be placed in inventory, replenished, and counted, which creates additional work for your teams. How often does your team have to touch an item between when it arrives at the store and when it is sold? You may be surprised.
Resource versus demand. How well do you adapt the number of colleagues to customer demand? If you don't have enough colleagues, you get queues and ultimately lose revenue. If you have too many, invest the salary in a way that does not give you a good return. Common mistakes are too few colleagues on peak days and times, which are often reinforced by breaks when customers need the team most. Or having too many colleagues at the beginning and end of the day when it is quieter. Do you have enough people on weekends or on your busiest days? And how well is your resource planned every hour?
Click and collect. In-store measurements show us how different it is, how long it takes different stores to get a click-and-collect package into the customer's hands as soon as they reach the pick-up point. For maximum efficiency, ensure that the packages are kept and kept as close to the collection point as possible so that they are easy to find. Use technology instead of paper lists to keep track of who collected which packages. The average pick-up time is just over a minute. Some super efficient stores run for up to 20 seconds, while others are quicker to select the product from the shelf and pay at the checkout than to wait for your package. Click and Collect is set to continue growing. So make sure that your process runs smoothly.
Administrator. A quick win is to check what you can no longer do and the administrator is a good place to start. Are the checks and double checks you perform for cash and inventory management really needed? Do you need to print and save paper records or how much can you digitize? If you want to know where to start, ask your teams. You know the tasks that bring no added value to your company better than anyone else.
Our top tips give you some ideas on where to start increasing your efficiency. Once you start, move on. The efficiency of the business is a journey of continuous improvement, a marathon and not a sprint.
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Simon Hedaux is the founder and CEO of Rethink Productivity, a productivity partner that helps companies increase efficiency, increase productivity and optimize budgets.
Simon started in the workshop and quickly switched to the manager and then directly to the headquarters. He was a productivity manager at the British retailer Boots and then became a human resources consultant before founding Rethink Productivity. In just nine years, it has grown into one of the leading productivity consulting firms, helping some of the largest companies in the world to progress. More information: Rethink productivity
