Improve Employee’s Retention of Retail Training Materials with E-Learning

Recent studies have proven that retail companies who adopt a blended learning approach to training that includes e-learning have better results because team members are more focused on real world activities, are learning in the environment where they have to execute, and retail training is delivered where, when, and how they need it.

Research by sales training experts has found that 87% of the learning that takes place in a classroom setting is lost within 30 days.  However, if the training was supported by pre-training and post-training e-learning programs including activities like surveys, skill practice, and assessments the learners showed more than 100% improvement in performance!

These statistics indicate that retail businesses can no longer afford to simply offer periodic instructor-led training or sales rallies in the hope that their retail employees will become (and remain) fully trained and motivated.  The simple fact is that without an ongoing program of blended learning, retail employees will lose effectiveness within a month.  ELearning is a cost effective tool that can ensure the consistent and measured reinforcement of the retailer’s training messages.

ELearning is a powerful because it delivers concise staff training where and when it is needed.  Retailers can target specific employees for more advanced or remedial training and – most critically – measure the results using a learning management system.  Additionally, as more and more employees use mobile smartphones, short training videos and assessments can even be delivered to these platforms.

ELearning is also highly efficient.  Training can be delivered to all retail employees within a short period of time vs. bringing team members in for classroom instruction in dribs and drabs.  This is perfect for new product roll-outs and new operational processes.  Additionally, because it leverages the power of the web, the cost of delivering hundreds of training segments to retail team members can be less than $50 per year!   

Traditional classroom training, webinars, conference calls, printed materials, and one-on-one training methodologies all have their place and should not be abandoned, but eLearning make all of them work better.

Creating and delivering eLearning is an extremely effective way for retailers to deliver targeted and powerful retail sales training, product training, and retail operations training in a cost-efficient and consistent way.

–          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.