Retail business can be easily shifted by the fluctuating marketing environment, especially for the traditional retailers who haven’t adopted technological tools, while business owners turning to technology are experiencing upgraded customer feedback and increasing productivity. Moreover, the long-run return will offset both the investment in technological tools and the otherwise traditional input, leading to more profits. 

Labour shortage does not only occur in certain industries or occupations. As the time and market shift over time, factors that affect the demand and supply of labour will also change. There should be a universal solution to relieve the pressure caused by a labour shortage. That is, technology, which changes the entire system of business operation and transforms it into a digital form. 

How Technologies Cope With the Problem of Labour Shortage

According to ZEBRA, 62% of shoppers do not completely trust retailers to fulfill orders. To raise the trust level, retailers are increasingly adopting smart retail solutions to elevate the efficiency of workers in stores and enhance the connection between the front and the back of store.

The adoption of electronic shelf label system minimizes labour shortage’s influence on retail business. First, ESL elevates workers’ contributions in store. In a traditional retail store, a large amount of workers’ time and energy is spent on price tag replacement, inventory level checking and other necessary but tedious processes. After adopting ESL, the business owners are able to establish a smart store with high efficiency and accuracy and with the need for fewer associates, achieving a better operation outcome. 

Second, technological tools lead to a long-run return. Compared with tools and consumables which commonly exist in retail environments such as paper labels and single-use banners, the business’s burn rate of retail-ready technologies can be extremely low and hence lower or even vanish the long-run consumption, making sustainable profits in the meantime. 

Plus, technology attracts younger employees which will be the ultimate long-term solution to the labour-shortage problem, as Generation Z is predicted to make up 1/3 workforce by 2030. Therefore, for retail business, retail-ready technologies are able to meet a part of the job demands of younger workers and hence maintains a stable workforce. 

ZKONG ESL Boosts Employee Utilization Rate

ZKONG electronic shelf label and smart signage system help retail businesses create more profitability when owning less workforce. The repetitive and low-skilled working process of paper label rewriting and replacement wastes a large amount of employees’ working hours. While adopting ZKONG cloud ESL system, employees’ time is released to the key work that is more high-end, such as consumer guidance and promotional strategy planning, since work bond up with price tags and stock check can all be fulfilled through simple clicks on the laptops or pads. 

Improvement of employee utilization rate directly leads to soaring profitability. Moreover, ESL technology enables a seamless customer experience, giving employees more tools to provide a more meticulous service that differentiates their stores from others, hence achieving higher customer loyalty. 

The End

Faced with the global trend of labour shortage, technology has become a powerful mechanism to fully utilize and magnify the value of a limited workforce. ZKONG smart store solution increases store efficiency dramatically and makes high-touch customer service become available for every shopper.