With customer expectations skyrocketing and digital disruption altering the retail sector, businesses suffer from an essential duty in 2024: to provide the best retail workforce management tools to their frontline sales staff.
Customers today want seamless, personalized experiences from physical and digital touchpoints, and retailers are leveraging digital technology to foster more intimate, human connections with customers.
This puts a lot of pressure on frontline sales representatives, who are the brand's face. Retailers need to empower their frontline staff with solutions that will improve their accessibility to product knowledge, provide seamless customer service, and make personalized recommendations to meet customer expectations.
For retail businesses, this frequently involves updating or redesigning their staff management systems. Effective workforce management is essential for any organization size to succeed, and many use staff management software to do this.
Retail employee app is a somewhat vague category. Simplifying HR work (from both the employer and employee perspective) is at its core, however, definitions vary widely throughout the professional world.
To make the job of choosing the right retail employee apps for your business, we’ve rounded up the review of the best retail scheduling and management apps in the 2024 market.
Top 7 Retail Employee Apps to Manage a Successful Business:
Xenia: The Comprehensive Retail Employee App
Introducing Xenia, the greatest retail employee software in the market, which allows you to execute end-to-end retail operations across multi-location storefronts!
We understand that effective procedures alone cannot ensure the success of your retail shop; creativity, flexibility, and seamless teamwork also play key roles.
All these components come together in our mobile-first app, providing control and ease to simplify retail employee management, keep your store under control, and boost revenue.
With an array of features that empower retail businesses through operations optimization and accountability, Xenia retail employee app solutions, which are supported by the top capabilities in the market, automate retail processes using a feature-centric approach.
But how? It's quite easy.
Smart Onboarding, Scheduling, and Shift Management
As your first step with Xenia, you need to invite your employees to the platform and create teams. The single-click invitation to 2 min-profile creation makes the onboarding simple.
As the second step, you can set up work orders and recurring tasks with our retail scheduling software in a matter of minutes. Notifications will be sent to designated staff members, who can finish tasks using their mobile devices. By closely monitoring workflows, you can quickly identify any loose ends, view missed schedules, and uncover the underlying problems.
The retail employee app facilitates uniformity by offering several feature-centric solutions, including work orders, checklists, SOPs, and fully customized retail operation templates. For every shift, this scheduling automatically initiates Task Assignments so that workers are aware of what is expected of them when they report.
Integrated Task Management
Once you’ve created a checklist for your employees, you would want to ensure prompt task assignment and tracking to ensure accountability and process adherence, making task delegation as simple as 1, 2, and 3.
To overcome pencil-whipping and unorganized retail teams, assign tasks and deadlines digitally - right from within the checklists. Not only this should help with easier task execution but also you’ll be able to manage, stay in touch, and track the work progress of your employees more seamlessly
Furthermore, the Task Management feature of Xenia allows stage-gating work orders and procedures for approval if a retail activity needs review or permission. Employees receive notifications on task assignments and project updates. This promotes process efficiency and due diligence.
Safety and Compliance Management
The data that are logged through task management further translate into important insights about your employee’s safety and the company’s compliance management. Through Xenia, you can assign safety compliance checklists to your employees directly. They can report incidents directly and immediately, automatically notifying relevant stakeholders and sharing real-time information through capturing photos.
You can store important SOPs and safety-related documents organized inside the platform of Xenia. You can also create SOPs from scratch using our AI-powered tool or import your own into the platform.
Our retail employee app serves as an end-to-end retail execution solution, from checklists and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to collaborative conversations and preventative maintenance, keeping your team on schedule.
Reporting and In-app Communication
As a manager, you would always want to stay on top of everything that’s happening in your business. Our Performance Dashboard with advanced analytics and reporting capabilities will make that possible.
Compiling data from onboarding, scheduling, task management, time tracking, and safety compliance, managers can generate comprehensive reports that will help them make better business decisions.
We understand that success metrics look different to different retail businesses. That’s why we have made the dashboard completely customizable.
Lastly, to take retail employee management up another notch, we have an in-app chat feature using which, you and your employees can always stay in touch with each other.
Once you start using Xenia, multiple software programs are no longer necessary because managers can control all aspects of their retail operations utilizing a single, unified platform. This guarantees data interchange and integration with ERP, CRM, and data visualization systems that run smoothly.
Pricing
- Free Forever: Free trial for up to 5 users
- Starter: $99 / month for 15 users
- Premium: $199 / month for 15 users with unlimited access to all the core features
- Custom: Need something tailored to your organization?
Book a call to get your quote.
Available for up to 5 users
Premium for $99/month for the first 20 users (with free trial period)
Available on iOS, Android and Web
Connecteam
Connecteam is a retail employee app that enables HR professionals, managers, and business owners to communicate, manage, and inform remote employees.
The three primary parts of the software are operations, communications, and HR & skills. The software is designed for businesses where employees don't spend all of their working hours in the office and is accessible on mobile, desktop, and tablet kiosk apps. Numerous businesses, including retail, dining, manufacturing, construction, field services, and healthcare, can use Connecteam to meet their needs.
Notable features include polls, surveys, a suggestion box to gather employee input, team engagement tools, and Connecteam's dedicated employee communication channel with tailored updates.
Features
- Scheduling: With its scheduling feature, which offers repeating shifts, editable templates, drag & drop functionality, and open shift claiming, you can easily construct the best schedules for your staff members according to their availability.
- Time Clock: Your employees can utilize a single Kiosk station, such as a tablet, or clock in and out directly from their cellphones when using the Time Clock. The digital timesheet is automatically updated with work hours and prepared for payroll processing.
- Task Management: Its task management tools make it simple to assign, create, and monitor the status of tasks in real-time. Send push notifications or direct messages to your staff to make sure they do all of their assignments.
Pricing
- Free Forever: Free trial for up to 5 users
- Starter: $99 / month for 15 users
- Premium: $199 / month for 15 users with unlimited access to all the core features
- Custom: Need something tailored to your organization?
BambooHR
BambooHR is a comprehensive HR software solution that handles hiring, onboarding, keeping track of employees, monitoring performance and engagement, and ensuring that workers are paid.
The same location where you handle payroll and benefits administration and maintain current employee data can also be used to handle your hiring and onboarding processes. Additionally, employee engagement surveys can be distributed and tracked, and performance reviews can be carried out using the software.
Together with a well-rounded solution, all of this contributes to well-rounded data tracking and reporting. You'll be able to identify patterns and relationships between hiring and turnover as well as engagement and performance levels.
Features
- HR Data & Reporting: The employee record is the central component of BambooHR, which serves as your hub for data management and insights. BambooHR delivers more for you than simply keep you organized thanks to its robust reporting and analytics.
- Hiring & Onboarding: BambooHR facilitates the quick recruitment, hiring, and onboarding of the best candidates. Their robust application monitoring system works in sync with proactive onboarding tasks to help you give candidates a compelling experience and improve recruits' first days on the job.
- Employee Experience & Performance: BambooHR provides resources to assist with achieving performance targets, obtaining feedback, and measuring satisfaction among employees.
Pricing
- Contact the vendor for pricing
Zenefits
Another all-in-one HR software program that handles everything from payroll to onboarding is Zenefits. It has every HR function you could require to oversee your staff, including Organizational charts, records of self-service, insights and analytics, advantages,
PTO requests—as well as a variety of specialized capabilities included in those tools. Zenefits has all the tools you or your staff need to manage human resources.
The fact that Zenefits is owned by Trinet, a reputable SMB payroll and benefits provider to which many small and medium-sized companies outsource their HR, makes it unique. It's a good bonus to have that huge name behind it, especially when you're entrusting your human capital to it.
Features
- Truly Integrated: Their platform's HR, Benefits, and Payroll components all work together under a single TriNet account. We're not only pieced together; we're genuinely integrated.
- Mobile Accessibility: They offer a mobile app that is completely functional for you and your staff. One of our consumers' favorite aspects, according to them, is this.
- Helps with Compliance: With the support of our platform, you can stay compliant at all times and receive assistance from HR professionals as needed.
Pricing
- Contact the vendor for pricing
Workjam
WorkJam is a retail scheduling software that prioritizes communication and scheduling. With the use of its scheduling tools, managers can set up and oversee the schedules of their staff members while giving them greater autonomy over their calendars.
The communication tools in WorkJam facilitate real-time contact between staff members and management, enhancing productivity and teamwork.
The employee communication module of WorkJam connects hourly workers and headquarters. Every employee can be contacted directly.
Features
- Targeted Messaging: Allows precise segmentation to ensure the right employees receive relevant communications based on factors like location, position, and shift status.
- Compliance and Security: Ensures all communications are compliant with labor laws and securely controlled, reducing the risk of using unauthorized apps.
- Multilingual Support: Provides inline translations to bridge language barriers, unifying a diverse workforce under a single communication platform.
Pricing
- Contact the vendor for pricing
Rallyware
Rallyware is a platform for enabling sales forces that supports the entire frontline workflow. It leverages AI to tailor sales representatives' paths in order to increase revenue and reduce operating expenses.
Rallyware's retail workforce management platform provides comprehensive solutions for learning and development, rewards and recognition, and opportunity management, enabling the necessary skills and behaviors for every individual to reach the highest levels of performance. Its gamification elements support the motivation and engagement of the sales team.
With practical to-do lists, assist associates in their everyday tasks and help them achieve in-store success. Rallyware drives retail sales enablement by centralizing the frontline experience into a single app, whether it is for managing inventory or curating displays.
Features
- Store Operations: Rallyware drives retail sales enablement by centralizing the frontline experience into a single app, whether it is for managing inventory or curating displays.
- Sales Contests & Promotions Management: Well-thought-out games add excitement and engagement to daily tasks, and visually represented progress indicators increase employee motivation by giving them concrete pathways to achievement.
- Streamlined Communications: Make sure the information gets conveyed, read, and acted upon by using communications that are trackable, targeted, and connected to tasks that require action.
Pricing
- Contact the vendor for pricing
Yoobic
Yoobic is a platform for retail enablement that provides a number of functionalities, including as communication, task management, and training.
YOOBIC is an easy retail communication software that integrates task management, dynamic learning, and employee communication to enable your frontline personnel to work at their highest levels. You can make smarter decisions faster with the help of an AI engine and sophisticated yet user-friendly analytics tools.
Managers can assign tasks to staff members and monitor their progress with its task management features. Yoobic's communication capabilities enable real-time cooperation between managers and staff, and its training courses incorporate gamification to make learning more pleasurable.
Features
- Promotion Execution: To track deployment in real-time, provide feedback with ease, and have complete remote visibility into your whole network, ask store teams to reply with photos.
- Requests & Maintenance Reporting: Using your customized newsfeed and chat, distribute news to every front-line staff member. Using social learning, performance incentives, and interactive training, strengthen your teams.
- Employee Training: Using social learning, performance incentives, and interactive training, fortify your teams. Short quizzes can help you gauge their level of knowledge.
Pricing
- Contact the vendor for pricing
What Makes The Best Retail Employee App?
The term "employee management" has numerous interpretations, and retail employee app has equally extensive functions.
Employee management software often serves two primary functions: it expedites HR administrative tasks and increases worker productivity. However, the benefits extend beyond simply preventing headaches, though that is undoubtedly one of the most important ones. It all comes down to making your team reach its maximum potential.
- Functionality and Features: Although the exact features depend on the demands of the business, HR functions are crucial for an employee management system. This could involve hiring, onboarding, payroll, time monitoring, performance management, and attendance.
- Ease of Use: The presence of an interface that is easy to use and intuitive is a must. Unnecessarily complicated systems can lead to inefficiency or higher training expenses in addition to user resistance.
- Scalability and Integrations: Retail employee app should scale with the organization's growth. In addition to platforms that can easily interact with the tools that the majority of organizations already use, such as accounting software, CRM platforms, or communication apps, this also applies to the software itself.
Final Thoughts
Whether you're a small business searching for basic capabilities or a huge organization seeking extensive solutions, one of these retail employee apps should meet your needs.
Although there may not be a "perfect" solution, the options shown here are comparable to the best that the market has to offer in terms of overall effectiveness, versatility, and user experience.
And when in doubt, you can always book a call with us!