Retail Personnel and Learning

Retail Knowledge Bank

What challenges do retail staff face in their day-to-day work? What do today's customers need and how do they express those needs in-store? What conditions do retail staff have? And what conditions do they need in order to meet customer needs in the contemporary retail landscape?

We already know that retail staff are crucial to creating (a positive or negative) customer experience in retail stores. Despite the importance of retail staff, relatively little research explores the challenges staff face, and the ways in which they learn to deal with these challenges.

On this page, you will find reports, webinars, and more, on the subject of retail personnel and learning.

A workforce with the right skills

The right skills are a fundamental prerequisite for companies and society at large to be able to successfully meet existing and future challenges. In today's rapidly changing world, the ability to develop and adapt skills is more important than ever. It is obvious that competence development is fundamental in today's knowledge society.

Read more about why we need to think about workplace learning in new ways, in this blog post from 2022.

Exploring competence and workplace learning in supply chain management.

Pernilla Derwik's PhD dissertation from 2020 provides a thorough and unique overview of competence in supply chain management. Her work offers novel insights into the learning process for supply chain professionals, and insights into how organisations can support competence development.

Read Exploring competence and workplace learning in supply chain management.

(When) Is it Worth Investing in the Personal Service Encounter?

Retailers have a lot to gain from providing more automated customer journeys and prioritising employees’ time where it will generate most returns. Read more in this open access book chapter.

Retail Knowledge Bank

Personalens roll i servicemötet

Digitalisation and new customer behaviours have changed retail work in several respects. Read our report from 2022 (pdf, in Swedish).

Personalens roll i servicemötet

Retail staff spend time helping customers that could actually help themselves. This might not mean advanced technology, rather making better use of the opportunities already in place. Watch the webinar (in Swedish).

Framgångsrik kompetensutveckling

Research shows that retail staff learn in informal settings. This report from 2022 (pdf, in Swedish) explains how to harness the power of informal learning to address retail challenges and to provide continuous learning opportunities.

Är det rimligt att satsa på det personliga kundmötet i den fysiska butiken?

Should retailers invest in more personal service encounters in-store, or push for more automated customer journeys? Watch this (Swedish) video to find out.