In today's rapidly evolving retail environment, innovation has become a driving force for success. Retailers are constantly seeking ways to improve employee productivity and provide exceptional customer experiences. However, the complexity of retail technology, siloed processes, and disconnected systems often hinder retailers' growth and innovation.
To tackle these challenges, ServiceNow launched Retail Operations and Retail Service Management in the Xanadu release. These products aim to help retailers streamline their operations, enhance customer experiences both in-store and beyond, and boost frontline staff productivity by bridging the gap between headquarters and store locations.
Now, in the Yokohama release, we are thrilled to introduce two significant new features that will further transform retail operations and facilitate seamless stores-HQ connectivity.
1. Assign and track work for multiple retail sites at once with a retail multistore case generator
Why we built this: HQ teams often need to assign the same kind of work to multiple retail locations at the same time. Today, there is no easy way to assign and track work to multiple retail organizations at once. Often, HQ and managers struggle to cascade information or assign tasks to multiple retail locations simultaneously. Many retailers still rely on complex spreadsheets, emails or even phone calls to communicate and hope that the tasks are received and executed.
Retail multistore case generator
Here's how the retail multistore case generator works:
The new case generator has built-in settings to trigger the “Add retail stores” selection step, which displays all retail organizations. Once retail organizations are selected, the generator creates child cases for the selected locations with information mapped over from the parent case.
The multistore case generator offers a store picker option that allows HQ teams to select multiple locations in one go for various use cases such as product recalls, promotional displays, or store safety checks.
- By default, cases are assigned to say a store or restaurant manager, who can reassign them as needed. Since the case includes the retail organization, it is visible to all location members.
- On the HQ side, the parent case provides visibility into the status of all child cases.
- This generic multistore case can be configured to create additional process flows.
Here’s how you can optimize your retail operations:
- Shorten time to value with minimal configuration needed for OOTB multi-location retail case assignment
- Increase operational efficiency by creating child cases for multiple stores all at once
- Improve site productivity by assigning cases directly to managers and tracking completion at each location
2. Streamline team experiences with a dedicated persona-based retail industry portal
The retail portal is a one-stop portal and will serve as the primary day-to-day experience for store associates, managers, and regional manager personas.
Retail portal
Why we built this: Retail teams at each location need quick access to resolve issues— Their primary focus is ensuring the store is operational to serve customers better. When they need help, they require an easy way to reach out to HQ. When they want to check the status of a submitted case, they need to access that information quickly. Similarly, when HQ assigns a task to a location, they need to ensure the store is aware of the task waiting for them.
Our industry-specific portal will allow us to tailor retail experiences more effectively and efficiently to frontline needs.
How retail portal works: We are launching the retail portal to provide a dedicated experience for retail users. This includes a landing page with highlighted KPIs about cases and escalations, depending on whether the person viewing the portal is a store associate, store manager, or regional manager.
In addition, this portal will house other common tools such as catalogs, case and task list views, store location details, Knowledge Base, and case and task details.
Here’s how you can boost associate productivity
- Increase store productivity with centralized retail cases, catalog items, and quick links with a streamlined interface designed for store teams
- Improve store team experience and highlight key metrics like case count and escalations based on store persona
- Shorten time-to-value by displaying retail-specific content out of the box, allowing teams to focus on tailoring the portal for their unique needs
Learn more:
Retail customers want great in-store experiences delivered quickly and efficiently. 85% of retail sales occur at physical stores, underscoring the importance of exceptional in-store experience.
Our Retail Operations and Retail Service Management products work seamlessly together to connect stores and HQ, streamline retail operations, and enhance employee productivity, thereby delivering great customer experiences—both in-store and beyond.
For more information on ServiceNow offerings for retail, visit our Retail Industry page to know more.
