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How much can VoCoVo save you?

Article by Olivia Robinson | 30th June 2021

To thrive in the post-pandemic economy, you will have to find new ways to save money without neglecting the customer experience. All of our products are designed to do just that. VoCoVo helps you to maximise efficiency so that you can cut costs and still exceed your customers’ expectations. We do this in four main ways. 

Self-checkout intervention

Self-checkouts are here to stay. Their popularity exploded during the pandemic, and 79% of customers plan to use them even more in the future. Self-checkouts can save you a lot of money, but only when they are used efficiently. 

Colleague’s often find themselves tied to the self-checkout area, constantly dashing between machines to authorise purchases and correct errors. Self-checkouts have also been shown to encourage theft, meaning that they sometimes end up costing more than they save

VoCoVo irons out these problems so that you can make the most of your self-checkouts:

  • Colleagues can authorise purchases via headsets from anywhere within sight of the checkout.
  • Call points allow you to unman self-checkout areas during quieter periods.
  • Headsets keep colleagues in constant communication with security staff. Thefts can be reported and dealt with immediately. Visible headsets also act as a deterrent to would-be thieves. 

By removing one colleague from the self-checkout area, you can save £702 per week per store. This means an annual saving of £36,504 per store. For businesses with larger estates, the total savings can be huge:

Number of stores Annual saving (Self-checkout intervention)
250 £9,126,000
500 £18,252,000
750 £27,378,000
1000 £36,504,000

 

Travel time

Retail colleagues are on their feet all day, but how much of this walking is really necessary? Whether it’s crossing the store to find information for a customer or visiting the stockroom to check on an order, these precious seconds add up. VoCoVo eliminates unnecessary walking so that colleagues can make the most of their time:

  • Contact the stockroom at the push of a button
  • Set up specialised conferences to find information more quickly
  • Answer customer questions via Call Points without having to track them down

We’ve calculated that VoCoVo can reduce daily walking distance by 1.4km per colleague. This can save you £442.40 per week per store, or £22,995 per year. Once again, the benefits for larger estates are huge:

Number of stores Annual saving (Travel time)
250 £5,748,750
500 £11,497,500
750 £17,246,250
1000 £22,995,000

 

Task efficiency

Walking is not the only way that colleagues waste time. Inefficiency can occur in any number of tiny ways, all of them costing you money:

  • Taking colleagues off the shop floor to train new hires
  • Pausing shelf stacking and other daily tasks to answer customer queries
  • Forgetting to restock shelves, turn off equipment or close freezer doors 

This slow trickle of losses can end up costing you a fortune. Luckily, VoCoVo is here to plug those gaps:

  • Headsets allow you to train new hires remotely while continuing your own work
  • Customers can ask for help via call points and colleagues can answer while they work
  • Personalised voice reminders ensure that important tasks are not missed 

We estimate that VoCoVo can save you 105 minutes per day in task efficiency alone. This saves you £111 per week per store, or £5749 per year. As always, larger estates will reap the benefits:

Number of stores Annual saving (Task efficiency)
250 £1,437,250
500 £2,874,500
750 £4,311,750
1000 £5,749,000

 

Unmanning desks and counters

Customer service desks present a dilemma for retailers. Do you keep a colleague on the desk at all times or do you assign them other tasks during quieter periods? 

Neither solution is perfect. A colleague who never leaves their desk is likely to spend some of the day doing nothing at all, while an unmanned desk can result in customers leaving the store in frustration when they can’t find someone to serve them. VoCoVo is the perfect compromise:

  • Call points allow you to leave customer service and Click & Collect desks unmanned during quieter periods
  • Customers can press the Call Point and speak to a colleague immediately
  • Colleagues can check the status of Click & Collect orders without having to visit the stockroom 
  • Colleagues can get on with other tasks without the risk of missing a customer

Unmanning a single desk or counter can save you £594 per week per store, or £30,888 per year. For larger estates, this translates into a huge saving:

Number of stores Annual saving (Unmanning desks)
250 £7,722,000
500 £15,444,000
750 £23,166,000
1000 £30,888,000

 

How much can I save in total?

None of these savings happen in isolation. VoCoVo saves you money in all of these ways at once, and the results are truly spectacular. 
By speeding up the self-checkout process, reducing travel time, improving task efficiency and allowing you to unman desks and counters, VoCoVo can save each store a total of £96,136 per year. Here’s what that could mean for your estate. Get ready for some big numbers!

Number of stores Total annual saving
250 £24,034,000
500 £48,068,000
750 £76,102,000
1000 £96,136,000

 

Big savings, bigger profits

These savings are only part of the story. By reducing waiting times and improving efficiency, we turn your store into a place that customers will love to shop. Research shows that happy customers spend 140% more and are five times as likely to recommend your store to others. Not only does VoCoVo save you money- it also makes you money. 

We offer a range of packages to suit any business. Whether you have one store or 1,000, we can help.

Get in touch today to get started. 

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