PERSPECTIVES

From The Co-Founders

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Tips, Tactics & Strategic Insights and Commentary
from The ROI Co-Founders, Pat Johnson and Dick Outcalt
Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists LLC; Retail Turnaround Experts

Try A Shorter Work Week?

Bold Way To Improve Productivity 

As we look around, we see a popular cost-saving and productivity-boosting tactic being instituted by many national retailers, shopping malls, and restaurants. They are open fewer hours. 

This offers an opportunity for you to revisit your store hours and employee scheduling practices. Maybe it's time to consider some changes, if you haven't already. 

Your customers have voted with their feet. Your goal is to see what patterns there are in their shopping visits. (This could be a fine project for a summer employee home from college.)

Start small; focus on , say, the last four weeks of data collected by your POS system. But this time, produce reports by the day of the week. Yep, seven columns of data. Wait till you see what it can reveal!

Here’s where to start:

  • Total sales by day of week
  • Total # of transactions (e.g., customers) by day of week
  • Total gross margin dollars by day of week
  • Hours the store was open per day of week
  • Total employee hours and payroll per day of week

From these, look at some averages by the day of the week:

  • Which day has the highest average transaction per customer?
  • Which day has the highest average Gross Margin dollars per transaction?
  • Which day has the highest average sale and average transaction per hour?

Now, as you review this, do any patterns emerge?

Here's our hunch: while you already know the "slowest" days of the week, it’s likely that seeing the numbers will produce some surprises.

  • What exactly is the difference between a “good day” and a “slow day?”
  • Or, might the “slow” days in total volume have a higher average sale AND a higher gross margin dollar average?

If so, why might that be? And what might that suggest? (This is when it really gets fun!)

  • Is it because there are fewer customers on those "slower" days, each one receives more personal attention from your staff?
  • Or, are there fewer "veteran" staff people working on those busier weekend days? (Seniority has its benefits, you know.)
  • Plus, you likely have a different group of shoppers on the weekend than are available to shop during the week.

All of this is invaluable for re-imagining your store hours and scheduling. For instance, here are some ideas:

  • Maybe open your stores a couple hours later on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays? That would save 8 staff hours each week, which will add up nicely over time.
  • Reschedule your staff, specially the seasoned pros, to those higher traffic days when their prowess is needed to increase the average sale?
  • Some office employers find that 4 ten-hour days are more productive than the traditional 5 eight-hour days (and employees like it as well.)
  • Be flexible. Not every person has to work the same kind of schedule.

And of course, monitor the results! The intent is to improve productivity. Does it?!

  • Monitor the same reports, calculate the same averages.
  • Do the same with the operating expenses.

See what difference these slight changes to your schedule are making in the overall productivity of your stores.

You may be in for some surprises, some pleasant surprises at that. For 2024, productivity is the name of the game.

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