Container Store staff debut wearable tech
By Retail Technology | Wednesday December 11 2013
Nationwide deployment of new employee mobility SaaS service underway to provide insight for store management with productivity analytics using wearable enterprise device
A US tech start-up has revealed major US retailer The Container Store as an early adopter of a new mobile workforce productivity application suite that uses voice-activated wearable communication devices.
Dallas-based Theatro said a nationwide roll out was already underway with the storage retailer as it announced the general availability of its Communicator software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering, which is designed to increase sales associate productivity, conversion rates and store profitability.
The store operations system is delivered as a per-employee monthly subscription, cloud-based SaaS over the store Wi-Fi network to every retail associate equipped with 1.5 ounce, voice-activated Communicator device (pictured). It runs a voice-driven application that enables staff to interact with other store employees, store systems, store management and even associates in other stores. And the app can also facilitate one-to-one or one-to-many communication.
Faster communications response
The retail store Wi-Fi network is also used to support the built-in tracking service, which provides store staff and management real-time information about where other associates are located at all times. This delivers continuous real-time location data, which Theatro said could be a key tool for increasing responsiveness and productivity.
And the employee analytics application can provide headquarters, regional and individual store management with access to real-time and historical team performance metrics, including communications, shopper engagements, social behaviours, where and how associates spend their time and how they move around the store, etc.
Theatro confirmed it is now in the early stages of a nationwide deployment with The Container Store after several months of trials to incorporate feedback and enhancements into the offering.
“The Theatro wearable solution has been instrumental in our ability to enable our associates to deliver better customer service and communicate with one another,” John Thrailkill, The Container Store vice president of stores systems, stated in today’s announcement. “Ultimately it represents a powerful approach to more employee productivity by enabling instant and actionable capabilities.”
