Ann Summers Grows Sales by Counting CustomersPosted in: News on 29th November, 2006
Matching staffing levels to customer traffic is proving a profitable winner for Ann Summers.
Ann Summers has used infra-red customer counting technology from PFM counting Solutions linked to its Eurostop systems to precisely monitor customer traffic flows in its stores and has seen sales increase by 4% by adapting opening hours and staffing levels to shopper numbers.
The company has implemented traffic counting systems in its 140 stores with the data fed directly into its WinRMIS retail management systems. Eurostop’s business intelligence module is then used to analyse sales and customer conversion rate and matches these metrics to staff members, hours of the day, and days of the week to optimise performance. Sales increases have reached more than 4% in some stores. Changes to one South Coast store are typical: the company found that shoppers tended to visit early in the day and the branch was quieter later in the afternoon. By opening earlier in the mornings sales have increased significantly.“By targeting stores we have increased sales and are trading well on last year,” says corporate projects and EPoS executive, Ketan Patel. “For us it is not just about sales but cost efficiencies. It is about achieving the right balance of the right stock and staff in place to match the customer.” The company has also installed a time and attendance system which has enabled more detailed monitoring of staff numbers and branch performance across different regions. By analysing data to store level, the company has been able to pinpoint when and where extra staff numbers can improve sales performance.As well as its WinRMS, customer traffic tools and BI, Ann Summers has also implemented Eurostop’s Promotions and Gifts Accounts module giving greater flexibility for promotional activity. Paper gift vouchers are now being printed in store for values as required and with the voucher numbers managed centrally so that shoppers can redeem then either online or in store with staff simply scanning the serial code to validate the voucher and check on its value.
While Ann Summers has improved sales by matching staff numbers to customer traffic, a survey by Kronos suggests that 82% of retail store managers believe that their shops are often understaffed for the volume of work required while 83% believe that customer service could be enhanced if staff scheduling was improved.
The survey suggests that budget constraints, holidays, sickness, staff turnover and unpredictable customer flow act as significant barriers to achieving optimum staff levels. On average, mangers in the surveyed stores were spending three hours a week drawing up staff schedules – although some supermarket managers claimed the task took 40 hours a week. In contrast, 34% of those surveyed suggested that their stores were often over-staffed due, in part, to unexpected downturns in customer traffic flows.