Challenge

• The programme was kicked off to resolve a mandatory compliance issue, and replace out-of-date retail technology
• The client also chose to use this as an opportunity to drive transformational change in stores, in line with their business strategy
• As a result, a number of retail IT initiatives were launched and needed change support, including fixed PoS replacement and mobile PoS implementation

Approach

We set up a Store Operations Working Party (SOWP) which consisted of representatives from Retail Operations and Stores.  We ran a series of interactive, hands-on workshops with this group, and used them to:

• Define and prioritise requirements
• Identify business success criteria
• Pilot new technology

We also used the SOWP to introduce the concept of Agile in stores by trialling Rapid Action Teams.  These were small groups of store employees who would work to identify the root cause of store issues and address them by developing and delivering implementable solutions.  It was a quick method that proved to be very effective in a store environment,

We were also responsible for all key change initiatives across the Retail Transformation Programme. These included:

• Defining and delivering the change approach – impact analysis, stakeholder engagement, training, business readiness, adoption tracking, post go-live support etc.
• Ensuring that store teams were ready, willing and able to adopt new ways of working and technology so that benefits could be realised quickly

Outcome

• The result was a highly engaged SOWP who were vocal about how excited they were about the changes. They championed the new POS tills and new ways of working with their colleagues, area managers and regional controllers
• There were high engagement levels across Retail due to the success of the SOWP. This resulted in fantastic PR for the IT department and the overall IT transformation
• Fixed and Mobile PoS was successfully rolled out across the UK and ROI
• Store-based Rapid Action Teams were in place to solve problems and implement solutions quickly and effectively