How a Retailer Reinvented its Approach to Employee Training & Engagement to Drive Sales by 19%

There are various challenges and developments facing the retail industry today – digital disruption with the rise of ecommerce, maintaining a customer base and evolving customer expectations among them. Today, an emphasis on employee training and engagement initiatives is necessary, and retailers are taking bold steps to innovate and stay at the forefront of a rapidly evolving industry. 

For the retail industry, it is also an exciting time – as there is a lot of opportunity for retailers to adapt to rapid changes in the market, and to reinvent themselves in a digital world. For instance, French fashion retailer The Kooples has implemented the mobile-first platform YOOBIC to streamline communications, visual merchandising (VM), quality and maintenance processes across its store network. Through the platform, store staff are encouraged to share their store floor sales pitches, the platform is also used to regularly survey staff to gather their feedback on products, allowing for the design team to refine and create products based on customer preferences. Such a platform plays a key role in engaging and empowering The Kooples’ teams. 

Here, we present another example of innovation and digital transformation in retail: a recent Rallyware customer story from retailer Intertop.

Intertop: boosting employee training & engagement in a digital world

For more than 20 years, European shoe and apparel retail company Intertop has been a pioneer in the fashion industry. Selling clothes, shoes, accessories and more, the company operates 136 stores throughout 27 cities, with various store locations also in other countries. 

Amidst the rapidly evolving retail landscape of today, Intertop was faced with key questions, including:

• How could they drive sales among the e-commerce competition? 
• How could they boost employee loyalty, retention and engagement that have a direct impact on customers’ shopping experience? 
• How could they empower employees to become more engaged and connected with the company’s mission and KPIs? 
• As some employees have been with the company since its earliest days in 1994, how could they ensure tenured employees remain engaged? 

Digital transformation of Intertop’s learning & enablement 

Playing on the theme of futuristic space travel, in which Supervisors and Sales Associates step into the shoes of a spaceship crew and commence an interstellar journey, Rallyware worked with Intertop on making Intertop Galaxy an all-in-one platform for personalized daily activities for each team member’s continuous growth. The platform also served as a centralized storage for important content and materials – including all information regarding training, as well as incentives and recognition programs. 

So what was unique about the platform and which tools and features made the biggest impact?

• An entirely automated personalized onboarding process provided new Sales Associates with the necessary tools and resources to get started and become productive as early as day one. 

• Automated and personalized employee incentives and recognition programs rewarded employees for their contributions to the business’ success, while also boosting morale and contributing to a strong company culture. Employees were rewarded for higher performance with internal currency points (‘Intercoins’), which could then be used as additional discounts for purchasing merchandise. 
• Real-time performance results afforded each employee clear visualization of their sales results and personal progress, helping them to reach their goals and sales targets.  

“Platforms like Rallyware definitely help different companies become more competitive in their industries by delivering personalized tasks, rewards and recognition to their employees.”

– Valentyna Khrystenko, Human Resource Director, Intertop

The outcome

Harnessing a personalized and data-driven approach to employee training and engagement, Rallyware helped Intertop establish a clear and efficient onboarding program for employees. By taking into account the performance data of each individual employee, learning and engagement became highly personalized, by delivering the right learning and business activities to the right staff member, and at the right time. This resulted in heightened sales productivity – with a 19% increase in in-store sales and a 16% increase in online sales, as well as a 51% increase in the completion of sales goals. 

Moving forward, having the necessary technology in place to streamline communications, ensure more effective connections between management and employees is crucial to the future of retail businesses. Additionally, with Intertop having more than 1000 employees that are geographically dispersed between retail locations, having a system in place that had all incentives and recognition information, as well as training, hosted in one place, was critical. Having a centralized hub that automatically navigates employees towards their goals, triggers the right activities for the right people through smart notifications, displays each staff member’s progress, and provides easy access to necessary files empowers them to do their jobs in the best possible ways. This also provides managers with visibility as to who needs assistance, support, feedback, or motivation at what point of time. 

Intertop Sales Associates and Supervisors have embarked on their interstellar journey into the Intertop Galaxy, and continue to soar to new heights. To learn more about their digital transformation journey, read the full customer story! 

By prescribing and predicting personalized just-in-time activities, Rallyware’s Performance Enablement Platform drives the success of each and every individual at scale. Schedule a demo to learn more about how the platform can supercharge your retail workforce with employee training and engagement, incentives and recognition, and more!