5 of The Biggest Productivity Killers In Retail Stores

Does your retail store or business suffer from a general lack of productivity? There's nothing more frustrating than investing all of your time, money and energy into creating a solid retail business only for your productivity to come a crawl. In the highly competitive world of retail, this can spell disaster for an otherwise profitable business. To learn more about some of the biggest productivity killers in retail stores, keep reading.

#1) Poor Employee Work Ethics

One of the biggest productivity killers in retail stores comes from poor work ethics among employees. Some store owners hire employees based on a 'gut feeling,' without taking the time to analyze their applications and perform in-depth followup interviews. While you may get lucky and find a hard-working employee on occasion, chances are you'll end up with slackers who simply want to earn a paycheck for showing up to work each day. And in turn, this lowers the productivity of your store.

#2) Accounting

Of course, another major productivity killer for retail stores and businesses is accounting. When you're busy analyzing sales, expenses, revenue and profit, it's easy to overlook other steps of your business. Rather than performing all of these operations yourself, a better option is to invest in a professional accountant. The additional money it costs to hire a professional accountant will prove to be well worth it in the long run.

#3) Not Using a Computer System

In today' fast-paced world, there's no reason why any retail store or business should not be using a computer system for performing transactions. Unfortunately, however, some store owners sill prefer to do things the old fashioned way, writing down transactions and customer card numbers by hand. Not only does this take more time, but it also leaves the customer vulnerable to card theft and identify fraud.

#4) Poor Management

A fourth productivity killer in retail stores is poor management. You have to remember that management is there to set an example for other employees to follow. And if they are constantly slacking off, exhibiting an unenthusiastic attitude, or a general lack of professionalism, your entire store will suffer from a loss of productivity.

#5) Taking Personal Calls

Last on our list is taking personal phone calls at work. If you currently allow employees to use their cellphones while working, you may want to reconsider this position. Even if it 'appears' your employees are able to multitask while using their cellphones, it's almost certainly lowering their productivity levels.