Operational excellence is a consistent rallying cry across retail organisations, with businesses focused on empowering front-line workers to deliver on the brand promise.
But success comes only when an inside-out approach to strategy translates into every employee being equipped with the right tools, and coached and trusted to deliver the brand intent in meaningful actions with real customers.
As workplace expert Amy Gallo wrote in the Harvard Business Journal, “Even the most brilliant strategy is worth nothing if it isn’t executed well, especially by your front line – the employees who interact daily with your customers.”
Perhaps by reframing today’s operational imperative as the next level of operational excellence, we can focus on bringing brand strategies to life with every interaction an employee has with a customer.
Brand comes to life in-store only when each person on the floor knows precisely how to show up for the customer, day in and day out. This is not a back-of-house, or support-office problem; it’s a frontline one, and it needs to be owned, driven and executed by operations leaders.
And the stakes are high – 64 per cent of customers stop spending with a brand after a single disappointing ‘frontline’ experience.
So whom should we look to for inspiration? Which brands are translating their brand strategies outward, and doing it well?
The Apple approach
Apple has turned an experience-first strategy into a frontline method. The brand’s operations teams drive the premium user experience strategy by ensuring a consistent, high-quality customer experience through multiple touchpoints, including frontline staff. Team members are not trained to sell. They are trained to ask smart questions and then help, following five steps of service summed up as: (A)pproach, (P)probe, (P)resent, (L)isten, (E)nd.
Lululemon’s educators forge community ties
Lululemon “educators” embody a community-based growth strategy. More than salespeople, educators are hosts of in-store events (think run clubs, yoga demos), which are designed to foster local community ties. Their role is to act as wellness guides, not just checkout operators, allowing the brand to deliver on its promise of quality, performance and community engagement, ultimately driving brand strategy and fostering strong customer relationships.
Sephora’s Beauty Advisors facilitate omnichannel immersion
Sephora’s brand strategy centres on experiential, mobile-enabled personalisation. The brand’s staff, known as “Beauty Advisors”, access digital tools such as the Virtual Artist app and Colour IQ, and guide customers through complimentary personalised skincare consultations regardless of transaction size. Sephora has also created training modules for employees on unconscious bias and cultural allyship.
Ikea reskills staff to drive functional upsells
Ikea drives its brand’s strategy by focusing on efficiency, sustainability and customer-centricity. Examples of this in action include steps by the brand to convert call-centre employees into interior design consultants, teaching them how to use showroom VR/AR tools and planning templates to walk customers through complete room solutions, not just product picks.
These brands prove that investing in how staff communicate and interact can be the strategic differentiator that turns customers into advocates and increases the bottom line.
To translate inside-out strategies to the next level of operational excellence, brands need to do more than simply communicate the strategy. So how can you put this to work for your brand?
Clarity and consistency
When clarity works, frontline workers know the key drivers of success, and execution becomes intentional and consistent across stores.
Continuous training
The retail landscape evolves quickly, and training builds the muscle to turn learning into performance, convert new behaviours into habits, and transform store employees into the embodiment of a brand’s strategy.
Tools
Consistent tools drive compliance and limit variance across individual stores and digital experiences. The future of retail isn’t just digital-first, it’s tool-enabled on the frontline, where execution meets real customers.
Empowerment and decision-making autonomy
When frontline staff can solve problems, offer compensation, or suggest alternatives, friction reduces and satisfaction rises. Empowered staff can create immediate goodwill rather than dissatisfaction and escalation.
With the retail landscape continuing to face economic headwinds, the retailers that embed brand into their customer experience strategy and empower consumer-facing employees are going to be better placed to experience stronger business outcomes.
