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Cross-Function CX Engagement > Facilities/Retail Operations

Facilities/Retail Operations

For businesses with physical locations.

The Facilities and Retail Operations department is responsible for managing the physical environment and day-to-day processes of all customer-facing locations. Their mission is to create a safe, welcoming, efficient, and on-brand physical space that enables front-line colleagues to deliver an exceptional in-person customer experience.

Key Goals & Priorities

Ensure all locations are clean, safe, and compliant with health and safety standards.
Drive sales and efficiency through effective store layout, merchandising, and stock management.
Maintain brand consistency in look and feel across the entire estate.
Manage operational costs, including maintenance, utilities, and supplies.
Execute new store openings, refurbishments, and relocations on time and on budget.

What Facilities/Retail Operations Needs from Customer Experience (CX)

Customer Insights & Feedback: Specific, location-based feedback on the physical environment, including cleanliness, store layout, ease of navigation, queue times, ambience (e.g., lighting, music, temperature), and the condition of amenities like fitting rooms and toilets.
Journey Mapping Contributions: In-store customer journey maps that visualise the customer's physical path, from entering the car park or walking through the door, to finding a product, getting help, queueing, and leaving. This helps the operations team to see their environment through a customer's eyes.
Advocacy for Customer Needs: A strong voice making the business case for investments in the physical environment. When Operations needs budget for a refurbishment, CX can provide the data that shows how improvements in areas like signage, seating, or accessibility directly impact customer satisfaction and spend.
Process Improvement Suggestions: Actionable feedback on in-store processes that create friction. For example, highlighting confusing queueing systems, inefficient click-and-collect points, or difficult product return procedures.
Data & Analytics: Data that links physical store attributes to business outcomes. For example, analysis showing that stores with higher cleanliness scores also have higher customer retention, or that queue times over five minutes correlate with a significant drop in Net Promoter Score (NPS).

How CX Can Engage & Collaborate Effectively

Regular Communication Channels: Establish a direct and regular feedback loop with regional and store managers, providing them with location-specific reports and insights to help them prioritise improvements.
Joint Initiatives & Projects: Conduct regular "Gemba walks" or "Store Walks" where CX and Operations managers walk through locations together to observe the customer experience firsthand. Collaborate on designing and testing new layouts, signage, or in-store processes based on customer feedback.
Data Sharing & Reporting: Develop and share location-specific CX dashboards that track metrics like CSAT, cleanliness scores, and queue times. This allows for performance comparison between stores and helps identify best practices and areas needing support.
Cross-Functional Training/Workshops: Invite store and regional managers to customer journey mapping workshops to build empathy and a shared understanding of customer pain points.
Attending Their Meetings: Ask to present customer insight summaries at regional operations meetings or quarterly business reviews to ensure the voice of the customer is heard by key operational decision-makers.
Active Listening & Empathy: Understand the immense pressure of managing physical sites, including staffing, logistics, and cost control. Frame CX feedback in practical terms, showing how a better experience can lead to smoother operations, higher staff morale, and increased sales.

Key CX Touchpoints & Intersections

The external appearance, signage, and car park.
Store layout, navigation, and accessibility.
Product displays, availability, and pricing information.
The atmosphere: lighting, music, cleanliness, and temperature.
Queues and the checkout/till point experience.
In-store services (e.g., click-and-collect, returns, customer service desks).
Fitting rooms, toilets, and other customer amenities.

Success Metrics (Shared or CX Impacted)

In-Store Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) / Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Footfall and Sales Conversion Rate
Average Transaction Value (ATV) / Items per Customer
Mystery Shopper Scores
Queue length / wait times.

Questions to Consider for Collaboration

"How can we capture and deliver customer feedback for specific locations in a way that empowers store managers to take immediate action?"
"What is the single biggest point of friction in our physical customer journey, and how can we partner with Operations to pilot a solution?"
"How can we build a business case to show that investing in the physical store environment directly contributes to customer loyalty and increased revenue?"

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