Profitect Inc., a leading prescriptive analytics provider for the retail and CPG industry, has announced new results from its survey of more than 1,000 U.S. Generation Z (Gen Z) national shoppers aged 18-22. As successors to Millennials, members of Gen Z are already taking the retail industry processes by storm as both consumers and employees.
The exclusive survey showcased that retail is still demonstrating its stronghold for entry-level jobs with young Americans, since nearly half of all respondents (44%) have experience working in a retail or grocery store. What’s more, 65% of these Gen Zers proved that antiquated processes in task management and reporting across today’s workforce landscape will be a detriment when attracting this new generation.
“Like the Millennials before them, Gen Z sales associates bring their own set of characteristics and expectations into the workforce,” said Guy Yehiav, CEO of Profitect. “Gen Zers are true digital natives since they have never known life without the internet, technology, mobility or social media. Companies will need to continue to innovate and modify existing operational and task management approaches to continue to change the workforce based on their specific wants and needs.”
As Gen Zers continue to join the workforce, companies must adapt their current management practices and task management approaches to fit the needs of a younger digital generation. According to the Profitect survey, of those who have worked in retail or grocery stores, 65% of respondents have had to analyze reports as part of their job. However, two-thirds of those respondents claimed the reports are too long and time-consuming. And an additional 30% felt that reports are not relevant to the job or too complicated to understand.
While reports are still an essential aspect for any business and retailers especially, Gen Zers are looking for simpler smart task management. Out of the respondents who analyze reports for their job, almost 40% of those respondents prefer to receive simple written step-by-step prescription for their work tasks that are sent through their preferred digital medium.
“With the advent of big data, analytical tools and machine learning, spreadsheet reports will soon become obsolete,” said Yehiav. “Retailers and CPG brands need to adopt smarter task management solutions that can bridge the gap for Gen Zers and enable employees to work more efficiently and effectively to improve business operations. Our study reiterates the need for prescriptive analytics solutions that can disseminate simple, easy to understand instructions or assignments in the workplace. As has been demonstrated by our robust global retail customers, sending employees what was identified and what they should do to increase sales rather than overwhelming them with reports to be interpreted is a proven and quick way to drive significant margin improvements at the same time while reducing labor costs by 2% plus.”
