6 ways retailers can benefit from crowdsourced labor

Merchandising tasks are labor intensive and need to be executed in an accurate and timely manner. Traditional providers such as agencies and brokers generally expect to work according to their own schedules, not the retailers’. But there is another, better way.

Survey combines industry-leading technology with Survey Flexforce — a team of on-demand merchandisers who get the job done whenever and wherever retailers require.

A key feature of Survey Dynamic Merchandising is that Flexforce comprises mostly contractors (often referred to as 1099 workers), where traditional providers generally use full- or part-time employees. The Flexforce approach provides several advantages for retailers:

1. Superior geographical coverage
   Since contractors are only engaged as required, they don’t have to be employed for a minimum number of hours. This means Survey is available even in areas where there are too few stores to support a permanent employee.
   
2. Overcome labor shortages
   The labor market is still tight in various regions, so it makes sense to have store employees concentrate on tasks that directly relate to customer service, while Flexforce takes care of merchandising.
   
3. Work on your schedule
   Survey sends appropriately skilled and experienced local merchandisers to your premises when you need them. In contrast, traditional providers generally work to their own schedules, sending merchandisers to stores only when there’s enough work to be done to make it worth their while.
   
4. Respond quickly to surge demand
   That flexibility and responsiveness doesn’t only apply to routine tasks — Survey can handle sudden peaks such as activations in hundreds of stores around a metro area, or planogram resets across the country. Importantly, retailers don’t have to wait weeks or months for work to start since projects can usually begin within days of the assignment being accepted.
   
5. 100% quality assurance
   The computer vision technology built into Survey means every task can be checked for correct completion. Compare that with traditional services that might check less than one task in 20. In the rare circumstance where something does go wrong, Survey will send a merchandiser to correct it.
   
6. Better motivation
   Like those who work for other gig economy services, such as Uber, Flexforce merchandisers know they need to work more to earn more, and that the way to be offered the next task is to do a good job every time. They know every task they do is checked, and they receive continuous feedback to help them improve their performance.
   

Survey provides unrivaled flexibility by assigning the right merchandiser for the task, whether you need someone to offer samples, someone to build and stock a complex promotional display, or simply someone to restock shelves.

The benefits of Survey don’t only come from its on-demand workforce. The “before” and “after” photos taken by Flexforce merchandisers are used for quality control purposes, but can also be used to identify and prioritize tasks before store staff notice they need to be done. And the data gathered about the actual state of the shelves can be made available to clients to help inform merchandising decisions.

Labor shortages are an ongoing problem for retailers in many parts of the country, yet customers are increasingly returning to stores for in-person shopping. Survey can help you meet your merchandising goals at the same time as freeing up your own staff to do the work they do best.

Find out more by contacting us to learn how contract workers can improve the efficiency, flexibility, and quality of merchandising today.