How Scaling Workforce Management in E-commerce Results in Higher Business Growth?

The online retail market is growing at an astonishing pace. According to reports, online retail sales amounted to over 14% of all global retail sales. Despite global uncertainty, the e-commerce industry is showing the promise of immense growth. 

As per a report, there is a prediction of e-commerce sales reaching around 22% of the global retail sales by 2023. A study titled E-commerce Statistics for 2020 predicts that the global e-commerce market is set to grow over 95% and take over conventional retail by 2040. 

Growth in business results in extending the scope of operations. This requires optimal management for maximum effectiveness. This is where mobile workforce management software becomes the perfect solution. 

Need for Scalability in the Growing E-commerce Industry

Every business owner knows that employees are expensive. A study by the Human Capital Management Institute estimated that the total cost of maintaining an employee accounts for over 70% of a company’s total operating costs. Comparatively, an e-commerce company is likely to hire fewer employees as compared to a conventional retail store of the same size. 

The growth of a business automatically means an increase in workload. However, a reliable mobile workforce scheduling software is extremely helpful to manage the workload with added efficiency and ensure an optimal customer shopping experience on your website.

Functions of Workforce Scheduling Software

Workforce management scheduling software handles time-tracking and work schedules for employees. They also help with processes and systems that leverage and enhance an employee’s skills. Workforce tracking software allows employees and third-party contractors, such as logistic partners of e-commerce companies, to track work hours, request leaves, and plan schedules more efficiently. 

Additionally, mobile workforce management software also helps e-commerce companies to stay compliant with labour laws and union agreements.

Advanced and high-end mobile workforce scheduling software can even help the e-commerce industry forecast future labour requirements, and automatically schedule the required number of employees to handle the work. Besides, these software systems help to train employees, monitor their performance and receive their feedback to keep the workforce engaged for constant improvement.

In simple words, a mobile workforce management system is designed to:

• Track attendance and work hours. 
• Schedule staffing for multiple work shifts. 
• Calculate off-time accrual automatically. 
• Comply with state and federal labour laws.
• Ensure optimal pay code tracking. 

Advantages of using Workforce Management Systems 

Let’s take a closer look at why e-commerce companies need to integrate mobile workforce management solutions into their business operations:

1. It helps reduce expenses

Workforce management software automates employee time and pays calculations. This prevents the risk of errors. It ensures that the strictest payment rules are followed precisely and diligently. Besides having a comprehensive idea of the workforce helps managers and HRs of e-commerce companies to make the most efficient schedules for increased productivity.

A study discovered that by using workforce scheduling software systems, e-commerce companies can reduce the average cost of labour by as much as 33% on unscheduled overtime. 

2. It increases operations flexibility and enhances productivity

As workforce management scheduling software collects and classifies more data, it allows managers to make better decisions. These scheduling systems can assign employees with relevant skills promptly, and at a significantly reduced overall cost. This directly helps an organisation have increased operational flexibility without compromising on productivity or quality standards.

The study also proved that e-commerce companies using workforce management systems have a 4% higher workforce utilisation on average, which gives them an edge for significant productivity achievements. 

3. It helps avoid financial and non-compliance risks

E-commerce companies also have to constantly comply with numerous labour laws and union regulations. These include not just the national laws, but also international labour and commercial regulations. A business can incur significantly expensive penalties for non-compliance with the laws and regulations. 

Mobile workforce software systems are designed to ensure complete compliance, mitigate non-compliance risks, and estimate their related costs. 

4. It boosts employee morale

Online workforce scheduling software offers unprecedented transparency and smoother communication between employees and management. This works to improve employee morale. Integrating a singular workforce scheduling system helps e-commerce companies cut labor costs, ensure complete compliance, and allows workers to make prompt decisions that ultimately support the business’ goals. 

These software systems automate shift time, scheduling, and absentees, making it easier for the managers to get a clear view of labour activities and costs, which can give a deeper insight into the ways in which employee management can be improved even more.

5. It improves customer satisfaction

Industrial experts believe that optimising workforce efficiency and customer satisfaction go hand-in-hand for e-commerce companies. The study also shows that businesses using workforce management software achieve around 18% year-on-year improvement in customer satisfaction. This is incredibly significant when other companies are only able to achieve around 9% customer satisfaction. 

When your workforce is being utilised efficiently, it helps to boost brand equity which is an essential element for the growth of e-commerce companies today. 

6. It reduces employee turnover

A high employee turnover, especially during the peak season, often cripples an e-commerce company. Unbalanced scheduling is usually the prime cause of high employee turnover. Using the workforce scheduling system, you can schedule shifts properly and be able to distribute the workload evenly. This way, you avoid employee burnout and overwhelmed executives. 

Using these software systems, employees and managers can keep an eye on the schedule and plan for leaves well in advance. This is also an incredibly efficient way to provide attractive incentive plans to employees who are willing to work overtime during the peak sales seasons in the e-commerce industry. 

Conclusion

Workforce scheduling software systems are incredibly useful for the e-commerce industry. Apart from creating and maintaining a feasible work schedule, mobile workforce management solutions also help boost e-commerce growth by reducing labour costs, avoiding non-compliance situations, improving customer satisfaction, boosting employee morale, and significantly enhancing productivity.