According to Vantage Market Research, the size of the global retail market may reach a staggering $40 trillion by 2030. That’s trillion with a T, followed by thirteen zeros. Retail businesses of any size can grab a slice of this pie. But here’s the kicker: It’s not just about getting started. Thriving in retail requires navigating a minefield of challenges.
From managing resources and tracking inventory to ensuring every customer walks away satisfied, every aspect is crucial for improving your bottom line. Missteps can be costly, but with the right strategies, they can be avoided.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the major challenges retail businesses face, how you can overcome them, and how Zoho Workplace can help you transform your operations.
Meet Furn Lab
Let's take a closer look at Furn Lab, a retail business selling cozy furniture for homes. It's run by Jeff and Ashley. They’ve spent years nurturing their business. They've poured their hearts into it. But as they scale, the cracks are beginning to show, and there are challenges holding them back.
What are the hurdles Furn Lab must cross?
All retail businesses have these walls to scale in order to succeed: Building trust, achieving operational efficiency, inventory control, ensuring customer satisfaction, and making quick decisions.
"Uh, is this even legit? I'll pass."
Trust is the cornerstone of retail businesses. But building credibility takes more than great products. It's a steady process that keeps customers coming back. Businesses need to create a strong first impression, build trust, and establish themselves as a professional and reputable business.
"Oops, you got that twice? Let me check."
The store managers at Furn Lab often found themselves buried in paperwork, juggling email threads, and dealing with scattered communication. Missed orders and delays became a frequent headache, all due to disjointed communication. Jeff and Ashley found it difficult to oversee the whole system.
"Sorry, we're out of stock again."
Furn Lab had to repeat this phrase constantly, leaving employees and customers frustrated. Managing stock across their stores and warehouse was a nightmare. Overstocking tied up capital, while understocking meant unhappy customers. Unhappy customers means a blow to their bottom line.
"Apologies for the delay—our team is swamped now."
From complaints about slow responses to address customer queries, Jeff and Ashley knew they had to level up their customer service. Besides, they needed to provide their customers with the best experience while visiting the stores and picking the right furniture for their homes.
"So much data. Who has the time?"
Jeff and Ashley had sales data but lacked actionable insights. Looking at rows and columns of data made their head spin. Frankly, who has the time? Without the right tools, they had to crunch numbers. And it took eons to arrive at a decision.
How can Furn Lab transform with Zoho Workplace?
Furn Lab faced their fair share of challenges, from disjointed communication and inventory nightmares to ensuring every customer leaves satisfied. Jeff and Ashley knew something had to change to keep up with their growing business. That's when they decided to adopt Zoho Workplace. This decision wasn’t just about adding new tools; it was about transforming their operations and turning those challenges into opportunities.
Show them you mean business
A business email address may seem like a small detail, but it’s often the first impression your customers have of you. Furn Lab started by creating a domain for their business and then setting up custom email addresses in their domain. An email like contact@furnlab.com doesn’t just look good; it tells the customers, “We’re serious about what we do.” It shows they mean business.
Collaboration that clicks
Picture this: A quality manager spots damaged tables during a routine inspection and alerts the supplier. But the store manager, unaware of the issue, ships them out to customers. Frustration ensues, and the tables are returned—time and trust lost.
This is what happens when teams work in silos. Updates are missed, and inefficiencies multiply. A centralized chat platform changes that. With Zoho Workplace and its dedicated chat channels, store managers and quality checkers stay in sync, sharing updates, images, and data instantly. The result? Faster fixes, fewer mistakes, and smoother operations—because good communication makes all the difference.
Maintain expertise across locations
Training a team across locations can be tricky. With Zoho Workplace, Furn Lab makes it a breeze. With Zoho Workplace, Furn Lab can transform how they train their team. Live video meetings make it easy to conduct uniform training for employees, no matter where they are. But here's the icing on the cake: AI-powered real-time transcriptions mean no one has to scramble for notes or miss important details. This way, every store operates with the same level of expertise, offering customers an excellent experience.
Keep inventory in check
It isn't a good sign to run out of stock when the demand keeps rising. Nor is it wise to have too much inventory. Zoho Workplace's spreadsheet helps you track stock levels, reorder points, and sales data. In Jeff and Ashley's case, they can manage inventory with batch numbers and use conditional formatting to highlight low-stock items, preventing both understocking and overstocking.
When the stock drops below the levels, Furn Lab restocks the highlighted inventory immediately. Store managers across different locations can collaborate on a shared inventory spreadsheet, adjusting stock levels based on real-time sales data.
Make information common knowledge
For Furn Lab, keeping all of their stores updated during a major sales event like Black Friday can be a nightmare. Even for smaller chains, company-wide policies—like managing returns, promotions, or safety protocols—need to be consistent.
The intranet portal in Zoho Workplace acts as a single, go-to platform for all employees—store policies, promotional guidelines, or even step-by-step instructions for handling discounts.
Make decisions in seconds with Zia
Quick decisions can make or break a retail business. They impact sales and the bottom line. But who has time to sift through endless data? That’s where Zia, Zoho’s AI assistant, comes in.
Instead of spending hours on spreadsheets, Jeff and Ashley can simply ask Zia questions like, "Which chairs sold the most last month?" or "How’s our revenue compared to last quarter?" Zia answers in plain English with clear charts and summaries, helping them spot trends, forecast needs, and make smarter choices faster.
Improved in-store customer experience
Shopping in-store still holds a special place for many, especially when it comes to big-ticket items like furniture. At Furn Lab, creating that perfect in-store experience is a top priority.
With Zoho Workplace, employees can instantly pull up product catalogs and high-resolution images from the cloud, on any device. No more fumbling with paper brochures or outdated displays. Going beyond that, Zoho’s OCR and Object Detection makes it even easier. Let’s say a customer asks for a chair. Instead of flipping through pages or scrolling endlessly, store employees just type “chair,” and voilà—every image featuring a chair or the text pops up.
Stay on top of customer queries
As Furn Lab scales and adds more stores, managing customer queries becomes trickier. To stay on top of customer queries, Furn Lab can set up to receive all of their customer support tickets straight into their chat. So, whether they're handling a single location or a growing network, their team stays updated in real time. Automated notifications ensure that nothing slips through the cracks, making it easy to stay on top of issues, address them fast, and maintain customer satisfaction—no matter how big the business gets.
A bridge to other apps
Running a retail business like Furn Lab means a lot of moving parts—accounting, invoices, inventory, and much more. So, when these tools talk to each other, life gets a lot easier.
For example, integrating Zoho Workplace with Zoho Books, a powerful accounting platform, helps manage end-to-end accounting—from banking to bookkeeping. Similarly, Furn Lab can leverage the integration with Zoho Invoice, Zoho Sign, and other apps to have a well-rounded system.
Focus on sales and customers, not tech
Managing a retail business is tough enough without wrestling with technology. With Zoho Workplace, Jeff and Ashley and their store managers don’t need a tech degree to run the business. It’s designed to be intuitive—no IT admin required. The interface lets them set up and manage it with ease, so they can focus on what matters most: boosting sales and growing the business.
Transform your business with Zoho Workplace
We can all agree that retail isn’t just about selling—it’s about solving problems efficiently. The right tools can make all the difference. Zoho Workplace empowers businesses to build trust, ensure operational efficiency, make fast and informed decisions, and keep customers happy. Ready to explore how your retail business can be transformed? Discover more about Zoho Workplace today!
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