Ensuring consistent customer experience across 100s of stores

iPad app enables quick and accurate auditing of retail stores
Web portal gives store managers detailed scores and clear actions
Data from 100s of stores is combined in an easy-to-use system for admin staff
Powerful reporting makes it simple to identify issues and create solutions

2,869

Stores across Europe

842

Visits per month

510,524

Data points per year

The challenge

The client is a business that audits and trains teams at hundreds of European retail stores run by a major global franchise. Their work improving the customer experience is painstaking and detailed: when auditors visit a store, they audit everything from the lights to the internal temperature of cooked food. The auditors then trains the store’s staff on specific issues highlighted by the audit.

Auditing stores generates thousands of data points every day, and it’s hard not to lose track of this information, let alone gain powerful insights from it. The client realised that spreadsheets were hindering their ability to deliver excellent results. They needed an efficient, powerful modern system.

Our solution

We created three new systems to automate, streamline and simplify the processes of recording data. The systems make it easier for the auditors to audit and train, for the store teams to deliver high quality service, and for central admin teams to identify issues and trends. Ultimately, these tools deliver a consistently better customer experience.

System 1 – iPad audit app

When auditors visit a retail store, their first task is to carry out a thorough audit – from the position of fire extinguishers to the way goods are stacked. Their iPad audit app presents a sequence of questions to be answered ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘N/A’, with the option of adding images to highlight good practice or problems. The app instantly digests the data and scores the store. The auditor then offers targeted training to the store team, using guidance from the app.

System 2 – online portal with outcomes and actions

After the visit, an email arrives at the store with a link. When the manager clicks through to a web portal they can see how well their store is scoring in key categories, compared with average scores for their area. Even more importantly, they can see the specific actions they now need to take. Once they have addressed each action, they update the system and upload an image, and the auditor will confirm the actions on their next visit.

System 3 – desktop view across all operations

Meanwhile our client’s office admin staff view data across their entire operations via a desktop system. They not only have access to every single data point, including images, but they can slice the data to identify trends and patterns. For example if a particular question is getting consistently low scores across numerous stores, the team can investigate why. They can change, delete and add questions and reconfigure the system as needed. The business also uses the data to demonstrate their results to their ultimate client, the global brand.

The impact

The three new software tools give our client a platform for growth. They provide a double benefit – reducing the time, resources and costs involved in each store visit while improving the overall quality of customer experience. This makes it easier to deliver outstanding results for global clients with high expectations.

More accurate store audits
More appropriate and effective training
Consistently higher in-store standards
Better and more consistent customer experience

“These digital tools have made the entire way we work more efficient and accurate. But probably the biggest impact is to give us visibility of everything we’re doing. ”

Team manager

UK office

The transformation journey

Business process analysis

We spent time understanding our client’s business model and workflow, and sketched out the key contact points between them and the retail stores they work with.

Bespoke software design

We drew out a model for a software system that would help the business manage its work, and broke this down into three key systems.

Phased development

We created the three systems in phases, starting with the iPad app for their auditors to use during their store visits. This delivered the greatest efficiency gains in the shortest time.

“We can see what’s going on where, and we can pick up on the issues that arise far quicker than we did before. That is a big strategic advantage.”

Director

Services used

Tailored inspection and audit application

Our extensive experience in inspection and quality control creates a firm foundation for proven inspection and audit apps, delivered fully bespoke to each client's needs.

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Bespoke software

Software tailored to your exact processes solves a huge range of business challenges and dramatically improves your productivity and supercharges your growth.

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Business process analysis

We discover exactly where and how your business can be improved, with a rigorous and impartial analysis of your business processes.

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