One of my favourite weekly shopping stops is a neighbourhood organic store. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, they know their products incredibly well, have a personal relationship with regular customers and are proud to be ambassadors for the store.

A question that springs to mind is how this business, as others, can benefit from automating everyday, repetitive tasks? And what would this mean from an employee’s perspective?

Two years of the pandemic made us realise how much we value human interaction. As shoppers, this was also a timeframe when we realised how shopping needs to be a far more personal experience. That brands need to demonstrate their investment in the relationship, not just the transaction. Today, 72% of consumers expect businesses they buy from to recognise them as individuals and know their interests. 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalised interactions, while 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.

For growth-oriented businesses, small and otherwise, shorter queuing times, speedier checkout times and higher levels of hygiene make a significant impact in enhancing the customer experience. Automation solutions like Glory’s cash recycling and back-office systems offer multiple advantages for such retail businesses:

• Free of cash-handling duties, staff can focus fully on interacting with customers, and increase their understanding of products and services on offer
• Cash automation at the point of sale greatly reduces the time to process payments and dispense change, leading to reduced queuing times
• Cash recycling devices improve hygiene in-store, as staff do not have to handle cash
• Cash automation solutions dramatically increase the speed of balancing and shorten end of day cash processes
• By removing the need for staff to handle cash, errors with change are eliminated and cash shrinkage is prevented
• Adopting a closed loop automation solution automates and virtually links every part of the cash management process, from the POS to the back office
• Solutions like Glory’s CASHINFINITY™ can give retailers centralized visibility and enable management of cash across the store, handling time-intensive tasks such as till drawer preparation, reconciliation and reporting

A major benefit of automation is how staff are relieved from repetitive and often stressful tasks such as cash handling and daily till reconciliation. With employees focused on keeping shelves stocked and high value tasks such as identifying customer needs, the result is boosted morale among staff, which in turns ensures an even better customer experience.

So, what does automation mean from an employee standpoint? Today, over 80% of businesses are set to accelerate the automation of their work processes, while over 50% of business owners are accelerating the automation of jobs in their companies. For retailers, the need of the hour is balancing very personal experiences in-store with the seamless use of technology.

For my favourite organic store, automation is a win-win, both on the business front and for its proud team. Engaged employees who can bring warmth and personality to their jobs make a huge difference to any store, and automation simply cannot replicate these qualities. With retailers adopting a proof of value approach, a key path to retaining great staff is in giving opportunities to learn new skills. In fact, 75% of global executives feel that reskilling will provide at least half of the solution for labour issues that retailers face. From a business perspective, reskilling existing staff offers up to three times more ROI in the long term than hiring new staff.

The challenges staff face with repetitive everyday tasks can dramatically affect internal team morale and turnover, the customer experience and your bottom line. Over the years, Glory’s portfolio of cash automation solutions has helped customers increase their efficiency, enhanced security and released staff to focus on the retail experience. Staff are relieved of cash handling duties and can focus on interacting with customers.

Automated payment solutions mean a faster, more precise checkout process for customers. And Glory solutions address every aspect of cash in your business, right from initial payments to end-of-day reconciliation, reporting and forecasting.

To find out how Glory’s cash automation solutions can address labour shortages in your retail business, read our ebook. Let’s start a conversation on how we can work together for your business, get in touch with us today.