Walmart Responds To Pressure And Rolls Out New Customer Scheduling System
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Customer First Scheduling will more efficiently staff stores and prioritize for peak hours.
Under pressure from labor groups and policy makers to offer workers more rational, predictable schedules and cut down on last-minute calls to work, Walmart has announced that it is rolling out a new system called Customer First Scheduling to more efficiently staff stores, Reuters reports.
Customer First Scheduling, developed in partnership with JDA-owned workforce software company RedPrairie, is rolling out across all 650 small-format Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market locations across the U.S. The system prioritizes scheduling for peak shopping hours by calculating foot traffic and sales data from every department in the store, then assigns staffers accordingly, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Walmart is not the only retailer to utilize Red Prairie’s system. In fact, the reach of RedPrairie's software is such that Gartner's Supply Chain Top 25 report, found that six out of the top ten companies rely on RedPrairie, according to HRLab.
"If customers are coming in at a different time we have to be there at a different time. We will not last very long if we don't do that," Mark Ibbotson, vice president of central operations, told Reuters. “At the same time ... associates have the option to choose what hours they want and see if they are available."
The software uses algorithms to determine scheduling needs in what is called “just-in-time scheduling.” This process is part of the effort to reduce operating costs to improve profit margins in today’s increasingly competitive grab for customers’ dollars. Retailers in particular are challenged by the need to match staffing with customer needs during peak shopping hours.
Wal-Mart has already announced that it is investing $2.7 billion on pay and benefits and has led major retailers in raising minimum wages to $10 per hour, all efforts to boost its reputation particularly among wealthier, urban customers. Reuters also asserts that the new scheduling system could also help with that image, but worker advocates say that the moves don’t go far enough.
"For workers who have been speaking out, protesting and fasting for $15 and full-time hours, today’s announcement represents a hard-won victory, but without increased pay or additional hours, it falls short of what most associates need to support their families, and or what is needed to improve customer service," the labor group OUR Walmart said in February in response to Wal-Mart's efforts to implement fixed schedules, flexible shifts and other options.
Reuters noted that the new Customer First Scheduling program has its flaws, however; it doesn’t always suggest staffing at critical times and workers may not see much benefit, especially when it comes to accruing overtime hours.