How much to budget for retail training

The average retailer spends approximately 3% of its annual payroll on training activities each year. For store-level personnel that equates to: $840 for a typical store manager, $560 for a full-time sales representative, and less than $200 for a typical part-timer.

Compare these numbers to the national average of $1,263 across all industries and you can see that retailers need to be more efficient in developing and delivering their sales training and management training programs. But the truth is that store owners can implement high quality training and employee development programs as long as they make sure to stay focused on what they need to deliver. And that means that retailers should consult with retail training companies about the type of content and delivery systems that they have available.

The good news is that there are more training alternatives available to retailers than ever before. This includes traditional classroom training, webinars, computer-based training, mobile training programs and more.

Most reputable training companies can offer any number of these types of training and can assist retailers with finding a cost effective solution that will meet your training requirements. The key is understanding and communicating your priorities. Do you need product training, sales training, management training or a blended training program? Ask your training consultant for detailed descriptions of their courseware and the desired outcome that you can expect after its delivery.

Like anything else. The key to implementing a great training program is understanding your needs and then partnering with a training provider that can assist you with presenting a top-notch product.

– David Goodwin is the Principal of the Retail Advocacy Group. As a 30 year veteran of the retail industry he has hired, trained, and performance managed thousands of retail sales representatives and retail managers. You can learn more about instructor-led, e-learning, and other training solutions for retailers at www.retailertrainingservices.com.