Revolutionizing Retail: Empowering Frontline Workers with Google Workspace

Frontline retail workers play a critical role in driving sales—and brand loyalty—by delivering exceptional customer experiences. They’re the face of a brand, interacting directly with customers and ensuring a seamless in-store experience.

However, their roles come with challenges, from managing inventory and staying up-to-date with the latest products and promotions, to providing more personalized customer service. Yet, many still rely on legacy systems and outdated processes—including pen and paper—to get the job done, so they’re not set up for success in a modern retail environment.

About 80% of the global workforce is composed of frontline workers who perform service or task-oriented roles. And 75% of frontline workers indicated they use technology with 70% indicating that more technology would help them do their jobs better—namely in communications, operations & logistics, onboarding and training.  

With its advanced communication and collaboration capabilities, Google Workspace holds great potential in empowering frontline retail workers.

How Google Workspace fits in

Google Workspace Frontline edition is designed to tackle these frontline challenges, providing retail workers with one solution for all communications, including email, chat, and video calls. For administrators, it includes Google’s enterprise-grade security and advanced endpoint management.

Frontline edition is an extensible platform that keeps workers connected across apps, devices, and infrastructure, with familiar, easy-to-use tools like Gmail, Docs, Calendar, and Meet. It can help with everything from scheduling and task management, to modernizing workflows, engaging employees, and onboarding, training, and upskilling.

Frontline retail workers gain access to:

• Google Calendar to easily schedule shifts, appointments, and customer visits.
• Google Chat and Spaces to securely communicate and collaborate through direct messages and group conversations.
• Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to create, edit, and view documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
• Google Meet to help teams stay securely connected with enterprise-grade video conferencing.
• Advanced Endpoint Management to protect their data and devices, and enable secure work on employee devices.

Retaining and attracting employees, with Google Workspace

Frontline workers need the right tools for the job, but they also want to feel connected to their co-workers, teams, and managers. And they want to feel empowered to help customers, make informed decisions, and develop new skills that can help them move up in the organization.

Research indicates that 79% of frontline employees who experience a strong sense of belonging are inclined to stay with their current employer. This can help managers attract and retain frontline workers, while powering collaboration, increasing efficiency, and scaling operations.

By bringing together collaboration and productivity tools many frontline workers already use in their personal lives, it’s also easier to onboard and train new retail employees. Google Workspace also comes with tools to provide ongoing training and continuous learning opportunities.

Pythian’s Grow with Google can help with onboarding, training, and communication with ongoing virtual, instructor-led training for Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Chat, Spaces, and Meet, along with a one-stop-shop knowledge site for self-serve content and resources. We’ll also keep you updated on the latest features and releases in Google Workspace through virtual webinars, focusing on tips and tricks that can maximize collaboration and productivity.