New technologies are also changing training in the retail trade by offering considerable opportunities and benefits to brands to train their sellers.
According to a PwC study, as in other fields, learners were 4 times faster to complete a task after VR training than after traditional classroom training. In addition, training can be delivered remotely, reducing travel costs and allowing vendors to train at their own pace.
Virtual reality and intelligent conversational agents: Immersive training as a performance catalyst
In France, many retail companies have already adopted immersive training. Decathlon, for example, uses VR to train its sellers to sell mountain sports products. The sellers were able to train to advise customers on the equipment to choose according to weather conditions and hiking routes.
Standardized Training
VR/RA allows trainers to create standardized training modules that all salespeople follow, ensuring consistent training in all stores and putting it into action immediately
Every seller, wherever they are, receives the same quality and training content.
Validate a storytelling and a customer experience in line with the brand image
Easy Access to Resources:
AR allows sellers to easily access resources and information in real time, ensuring consistency in customer service.
For example, visual instructions can be superimposed on products to guide sellers consistently.
Of course, the immersive training can be customized to meet the specific needs of each company.
The training content can be adapted to highlight the company’s values, practices, and products, taking into account the particularities of each market, particularly in different countries. This strengthens the brand identity and improves the customer experience.
Metrics and Data
Training data can be collected and analyzed to assess salespeople’s skills, identify gaps and training needs, and measure the impact of training on sales performance.
Immersive training can also be a very effective tool to standardize the training of salespeople according to company policy. Indeed, we note that for the same brand, the discourses on the products may differ according to the stores while creating with the trainers experiences of brands, taking into account the specifications of the brand, we can create standardized virtual scenarios, which can be used to train all sellers in the same way, regardless of their geographical location or level of experience.
Imagine … (Re) Create a customer journey simulation from A to Z, with scenarios that correspond to the customer feedback that the brand holds, those that it anticipates and highlighting all the sales arguments that must be integrated by the sellers.
In short, immersive training, based on VR and AR, improves salespeople’s skills, standardizes sales practices in all stores, quickly and simply updates their educational content and reduces training costs. Companies wishing to remain competitive in this ever-changing market should therefore seriously consider integrating these technologies into their training strategy.
Business cases ?
Leroy Merlin uses AR to train his salespeople to use DIY tools. The sellers were able to view the different tools in 3D and learn how to use them in an interactive and fun way.
Fnac Darty used VR to train its salespeople to sell complex electronic products, such as televisions and sound systems. Salespeople were able to practice explaining the technical characteristics of the products and answering customer questions more effectively.
Sources:
"Decathlon: virtual reality to train sellers", LSA, January 17, 2018.
"Leroy Merlin uses augmented reality to train its sellers", L'Usine Digitale, November 26, 2018.
"Fnac Darty: virtual reality to train its sellers", LSA, March 28, 2017.
"The Future of Work: The VR/AR Training Revolution", PwC, 2019.
