"The State Of The Store Manager 2006"
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Forrester Research and Integrated Solutions for Retailers, July 2006
A survey of store managers performed by Forrester Research and Integrated Solutions for Retailers revealed that the majority (82 percent) of retailers have more work then ever before. Even with this workload increase and added tasks, 42 percent of respondents reported a flat or decreased budget in response to the demand. This study surveyed U.S.-based district, store and assistant managers on a variety of issues, ranging from workload management and corporate headquarters-to-store communications to the connection between online and in-store activities.
According to the study, more than 62 percent of respondents feel that retail corporate headquarters assign stores too much work. Sixty-two percent of respondents identify communication barriers between headquarters and stores, stating that corporate headquarters do not listen to concerns or comments from stores. The study also revealed significant communication barriers among stores. While the majority of store managers (87.5 percent) acknowledge that effective new ideas come from other branches, 67 percent cite difficulty sharing such information due to communication obstacles.
Additional communication barriers exist between online and brick-and-mortar stores. More than 37 percent of respondents do not know what promotions and activities their companies engage in online. Customers' in-store experiences are compromised when online-marketed promotional items are not available in their stores.
The study also found that while 83 percent of respondents agreed that technology helps them do their own jobs better and faster, the majority of retailers lack the essential technology tools such as appropriate software, store manager dashboards, PDAs or tablet PCs.
