Are Your Small Retail Store's Employees Productive?

| Tuesday, October 4, 2011
By Reid Kagel


Most of your retail company's success depends upon your staff. The greater they can be at their jobs, the more happy your customers will probably be. But how can you determine whether the employees are "good" at their jobs? Is it dependent on a sense from watching them operate, or do you have information at your fingertips that verifies their productivity?

Unless of course you have numbers to analyze, there is no way to be sure about which of your employees are truly productive. Quite a few modest merchants leave this to chance, uttering a few words and phrases of reassurance to inspire their employees to execute. Unfortunately, this method doesn't yield information that may be tracked; and if it cannot be monitored, it is difficult to establish problems.

This article will talk about personnel efficiency from an analytical perspective. We'll utilize a hypothetical illustration throughout to demonstrate how you can figure out who among your personnel does well, and who could need instruction and direction.

What's The Dollar Per Sale Amount?

First, let's lay the groundwork. Imagine three individuals work in your retail store: Anthony, Delores, and Steve. During the last month, Anthony's total gross sales were $16,000 throughout 75 sales through which he sold 100 items. He worked 160 hours (full-time), and acquired $3,200. Throughout the same period, Delores sold $19,000 worth of products or services across 90 sales, which involved 180 items. She worked 160 hours for which she was compensated $2,900. Steve generated $10,500 throughout 40 transactions in which he sold 85 items. He worked only 70 hours (part-time), and was paid $1,900.

The first quantity to determine is the amount of income each generated on a per-transaction base. Anthony generated $213 ($16,000 divided by 75), Delores generated $211, and Steve generated $263. From these numbers, Steve would seem more productive than the others.

Are Your Clerks Selling Enough In Each Transaction?

The other amount to calculate is the average number of items each order contained. We can see from the assumptions in our illustration that Anthony sold typically 1.33 items (100 divided by 75), Delores sold an average of 2 items, and Steve sold an average of 2.13 items each and every transaction. Steve once again seems to be the most effective employee.

These figures might point to an opportunity to teach Anthony in cross-selling since he lags behind Delores and Steve. If he improves in persuading consumers to include complementary products to their baskets, he'll boost his typical order volume as well as the shop's earnings.

How Much Revenue Is Produced Per Hour?

After that, it is beneficial to determine the amount of revenue each worker generates per hour. Recall that Anthony and Delores labored 160 hours during the last month while Steve worked 70 hours. With all this, Anthony generated $100 each hour ($16,000 divided by 160), Delores earned $118.75 per hour, and Steve earned $150 each hour. Steve once again seems to have outperformed his co-workers.

A side note is worth making. Because Steve works part-time, it's sensible to assume he's out on the floor throughout peak hours. Hence, generating more earnings each hour than Anthony and Delores is expected.

Are Your Employees Pulling Their Weight?

The final number to determine is your cost of selling depending on the quantity you paid the employees. This can be best represented as a percentage, and is found by dividing each person's income over the last 30 days by that person's total sales. Anthony sold $16,000 worth of products, and was paid $3,200.

Therefore, your price of selling via Anthony is 20%. Your cost of selling via Delores is 15.3% ($2,900 divided by $19,000). With Steve, it's 18.1%. Here, Delores appears to be the most effective employee.

The purpose of undergoing this procedure is to determine areas for improvement. To do that, it's vital that you determine objectives for your personnel. As an example, you might want your workers to produce a particular amount of revenue each hour. If one or more people fail to do so, it is worth trying to determine the reason. By continuing to keep track of these numbers, and providing instruction when necessary, you can increase the income of your retail business. If you don't, you might be finding yourself facing a store liquidation.




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