120 INTERVIEW Stop losing sales BY ALICE CHAMBERS Synq’s Nolan Wheeler and Zebra Technologies’ Tim Fox explain how the companies are collaborating with Microsoft to help retailers equip frontline workers with the right tools and improve customer experiences Walking into a store, a customer searches for an item – perhaps a last-minute gift or an essential household product – but when they check the shelves, it’s not there. A sales assistant offers to help by searching the inventory system and sees that the item is in stock. However, after a long search in the storeroom and several radio calls to colleagues, the assistant returns empty-handed. Frustrated, the customer leaves, choosing to buy from an online competitor instead. This scenario happens frequently in retail where inefficient systems result in lost sales and unhappy shoppers. But for Nolan Wheeler, CEO of Synq, a technology provider for retailers, this type of experience highlights a larger issue: frontline retail workers play an important part in delivering great customer service, but they lack the tools they need to work efficiently. Without the right technology, they struggle with three key challenges: communication breakdowns, an inability to access information and staffing shortages. “Inefficient or outdated tools make it difficult for teams to collaborate and have visibility into shared tasks,” he says. “This leads to missed requests, duplicated efforts and unhappy customers. Another critical issue is the lack of integration between systems – today’s associates are forced to jump between too many disparate tools to do their jobs. And the high turnover of staff makes these challenges even more acute, with employees being asked to do too much with too little.” When frontline workers don’t have the proper technology to complete tasks, it’s the customers who ultimately suffer. “Every missed customer request is driving more people out of stores and towards online giants like Amazon,” says Wheeler. “Processes like inventory management become slow and error-prone without the right technology in place, leading to lost sales. By some estimates, out of stocks cost retailers hundreds of billions of dollars annually. The kicker? Most of the time those products are somewhere in the building. These inefficiencies not only increase labour costs and waste resources, but they also force workers to spend more time manually checking inventory or correcting mistakes instead of focusing on serving customers.” Recognising these challenges, Synq is working with Zebra Technologies and Microsoft to empower frontline workers. By leveraging Microsoft’s cloud capabilities, Zebra’s hardware and Synq’s retail-focused platform, the trio is developing integrated solutions that improve task management, streamline communication and power actionable insights. “Our collaboration ensures that frontline employees have the technology they need to be effective in real time,” says Tim Fox, global alliance manager for Zebra Technologies. “With Microsoft Teams Adaptive Cards and Azure AI capabilities at the core, Synq’s solution enables instant updates, task assignments and escalations all within a single, intuitive platform. Zebra’s hardware puts these solutions directly into the hands of frontline workers, ensuring timely notifications, efficient task management and device security.” “ Every missed customer request is driving more people out of stores” NOLAN WHEELER, SYNQ
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