Retail training: use a learning management system

Retail training: use a learning management system

What is a learning management system?

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software program or web-based technology used to plan, execute, and evaluate a particular learning process. It is used for eLearning procedures and in its most common configuration consists of two components: a server that handles the essential functionality and a user interface that is managed by teachers, students and administrators. There are countless variations in an ever-expanding range of industries. An LMS has features such as different course formats, a place for people to submit their assignments, and analytics to monitor engagement levels. However, that is only a small selection of the attributes that may be present.

An LMS is used to support staff training and improve it when it comes to retail in particular. This could include giving a newly promoted store manager an overview of their duties, introducing your brand values ​​to new sales assistants through an online introductory course, or giving a visual merchandising team access to the latest store design tools through video integration.

Types of retail training an LMS can provide

1. Induction training

Using an LMS to deliver induction training has a number of advantages over some of the other options. First of all, it offers a high level of consistency, which is a crucial part of the customer service component of retail companies. You can reduce a full day of in-person training to an hour-long online course that your employees can take from home and go through as many times as necessary to understand the material by developing a company-specific introductory course. When using an LMS, there are many different ways to create an introductory course, including downloadable documents, a slideshow, or an interactive video. The benefit of continuing to use the same, consistent messages over time is another benefit of an LMS.

2. Health and Safety

Many believe that retail is a more dangerous industry. Frontline workers in your company will encounter a variety of risks, including lifting fresh supplies, using ladders, and using different POS systems. By providing a variety of health and safety courses online, you can reduce the risk to your employees.

Managers and senior staff can check that employees are aware of your safety guidelines and this will help reduce the risk of an accident, especially with a good LMS with analytical functionality or a robust reporting system. The training will probably also need to be reviewed by your team from time to time.

3. Compliance Training

Several new laws have been introduced in recent years. For example, the GDPR has just come into effect and the new rules have caught some people off guard and confused many. The new legislation entails numerous new regulations and serious consequences for the improper handling of personal data.

Using an LMS, you can efficiently distribute new courses among your team. That means you can be one of the first to act and alert your team when a new law directly affects retail. Making sure you have a system to share information quickly has never been more important, as data collection and processing is important for retail businesses that have both a high street and an online presence.

4. Continuity Training

Retailers must be able to train new employees quickly. Because safety regulations are constantly changing, store personnel must adapt quickly and become familiar with new regulations. Many retailers are able to do this more efficiently thanks to an LMS, which also makes it easy to implement new regulations simply by adding a new course. This makes a task that may have been a nightmare into a fairly simple one.

These are just a few examples of how an LMS can be used to make your training procedures more efficient. Traditionally, it would be expensive and time consuming to provide the above types of training. However, with an LMS you can minimize the work and costs.

What challenges can you face when setting up a retail LMS?

It makes sense to think about the issues you may encounter before investing in a feature-rich LMS. Here are some of the most common:

1. Difficulty engaging your team

Getting your team involved will probably be one of your biggest challenges. An important element that increases engagement is having the right setup. Your sales assistants don’t think about the online compliance training you’re bugging them about. There are plenty of ways to promote greater engagement. You can program automatic email reminders to go straight to your employees’ inboxes. Gamification, which rewards student engagement, is another option.

2. Making training accessible

There are so many different types of devices available. This can cause problems if you depend on your employees using their own devices to access your LMS. Making sure your platform is well designed is one way to get around this. It will be easily accessible from a variety of devices, from a phone to a desktop computer, if it is responsive. You can also consider turning your LMS into a mobile app that complements your web-based offering. This has countless benefits for retailers. It means that the hardware you need to deliver to your stores or your HQ team could be anything from a mobile phone, tablet, or desktop. Many companies allow their teams to use their own devices.

Conclusion

Anyone considering implementing an LMS in their retail business should start with the above ideas. However, there are many more factors to consider. There are seasoned LMS service providers who work with companies of all sizes to help them get started, from the early stages of ideation to implementation and support. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about how we can help you create an LMS for your business, please get in touch.