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Retail’s post-COVID “Great Resignation” in 2021 and 2022 is over. Retail turnover fell in every year since, including 2026.
Yet retail turnover is and likely will continue to remain higher than most other businesses and industries. It’s a high-churn sector and is particularly vulnerable during economic volatility, downturns and upturns.
There are, however, lessons to be learned behind the numbers.
Starting with a retail truism we support: “Happy associates, better bottom line.”
Let’s explore.
1. Happy associates, better bottom line? Yep.
2. What makes associates happy?
3. Design for the work, not just the walkthrough
4. Upgraded associate experiences and improved operational efficiency
5. Quality matters to your customers and associates
6. Associates are connected to your community
7. Store strategy and design that create real value
A year ago, we noted that “increasing inside operating profits” was the foundational issue at the National Association of Convenience Stores Show (NACS).
We also noted that the difference in employee turnover between top-performing c-stores and the bottom decile is significant (60.8% vs. 156.3%). Same with manager turnover (17.1% vs. 65.3%).
There is a clear connection between these key retail goals: inside operating profits and associate retention.
And retail store design plays a critical role in both, and not just for c-stores.
While a great “customer experience” is the prime directive for all businesses, “associate experience” isn’t far behind. They are intertwined and influence each other, positively or negatively, particularly in retail.
The associate experience isn’t just about wages and benefits, either. It’s about creating a fun, interesting and rewarding working environment. That helps not only hiring and retention, but it also inevitably becomes part of a brand’s public reputation.
The associate experience leans into four store design elements.
A clean, upgraded store is Point A, and specific associate areas that provide them comfort, retreat and satisfaction are great for hiring and retention.
Store design also should specifically focus on making associates’ jobs easier and more satisfying. A big retail design challenge is pairing and optimizing the customer shopping and associate working experiences.
When environments are easier to navigate, operate and maintain, teams can serve customers more effectively.
On a most basic design level, consider how much more effective and satisfying it is for an associate to tell a customer that the product they just asked about is located in “aisle 10,” which includes clearly marked product categories, rather than pointing and saying, “I think it’s over there somewhere.”
Focus on the associate experience should be end to end during store development, from discovery, strategy and design through prototyping and scaled execution. And even small but effective tweaks, post-installation, with managers providing tips and associate feedback to the entire store fleet.
If you’ve been around retail design for more than a few years, you know stores can look impressive in renderings but end up frustrating to operate. A customer can feel impressed upon entry but feel an experience decline when an associate appears uncertain and stressed by straightforward requests.
Obviously, associates experience your store spaces differently than shoppers. They replenish merchandise, handle returns, fulfill orders and answer questions, often within the same few minutes.
Great retail design requires observation and inquiry about every aspect of these associate activities. Ask associates where they lose time, encounter congestion or need to improvise solutions. Where can technology help? And where is technology burdensome or practically useless? Do they have thoughts on blending efficient wayfinding and product discovery? Or self-checkout challenges?
Their answers should inform important design decisions about flexible fixture placement, service areas, digital investment and inventory organization.
Happy associates are a competitive advantage in more than just obvious ways.
A big part of developing that valuable culture is improving their experience with day-to-day tasks and customer interactions, both quick and prolonged. While there’s lots of handwringing about technology displacing workers, a lot of the time it’s about technology taking over or automating tedious and laborious processes, from manual labor to administrative work and inventory management.
There are many touchpoints between retail technology and the associate experience, most notably providing staff with apps or tablets that make customer interactions easier and therefore more enjoyable, such as immediate access to product and inventory information. Digital signage, interactive kiosks and integrated inventory systems optimize staff workflows and enhance in-store efficiency. Digital price tags make a once-onerous process quick, easy and precise.
Integrating technology to upgrade the associate and customer experiences includes strategic and holistic thinking that addresses three specific questions pertaining to your associates.
Empowering associates and improving operational performance are a critical part of all store refreshes, particularly the digital components. Associates want a fun, interesting and rewarding working environment. They want to feel successful and even learn.
Fostering such an environment helps not only hiring and retention, but it also inevitably becomes part of your business’s public reputation.
Just as customers prefer a retail environment that feels high quality, so do your associates.
Thoughtful retail design includes an understanding of material, engineering and fixture options across the entire store network. This ensures all of your branded environments, from flagship to pop-up, are great places to both shop and work.
High quality also supports and eases the burden of merchandising changes based on seasonal needs or product sales or even inventory assessments, making them simple to execute.
A durable, flexible, modular fixture system also doesn’t require tedious upkeep, with overburdened associates taking orders from irritated managers about patchwork repairs and maintenance.
Your customers and associates understand the truism, “You get what you pay for.” Leading with quality in store design might be more expensive up front, but it provides value and ROI over time, and that includes your associates connecting your brand to high quality, both in terms of product and store development.
Retailers often talk about localization. Engaged associates can help you move beyond “local flair” and toward community storytelling.
Your design team will receive plenty of input when asking associates specific questions about their community’s distinctions.
Subjects to explore include:
• What defines your store’s region? History, individuals or annual events?
• What about seasonal distinctions?
• What about lifestyle, behaviors and accents?
• What about local products or local materials?
• And sports teams, institutions or universities?
Further, you’ll find a diversity of takes from your associates on these questions. In New York, you get Mets fans and Yankees fans. In Texas and California, there are lots of ways to delight and annoy college and pro sports fans. Arizonans and Minnesotans have different takes on the weather.
And there are many fun and engaging ways to lean into these local rivalries, alliances and quirks that will amuse and entertain your customers and associates.
Your stores become not just points of work and transaction, but also places with authentic, localized points of view, something that customers and associates appreciate.
Associate experience is a critical part of store performance. When environments are easier to navigate, operate and maintain, teams can serve customers more effectively.
An intelligently designed store layout ensures that staff can manage replenishments and customer service more effectively, reducing downtime and operational costs. By enhancing efficiency, you can reallocate resources toward innovation and customer engagement, further driving competitive advantages over retailers still operating in less efficient environments with often frustrated associates.
So, when refreshing your branded environment and improving your digital integration, don’t ignore the intersection between customer and associate experience. Make them both better.