“From new store signage to holiday promotion protocols to business updates from HQ, keeping up with comms in retail can be akin to drinking from a firehose. When compounded with the fact that associates spend the day on their feet—and not in front of a computer primed to consume instruction—it’s no surprise that only 29% of directions from HQ are reported to execute correctly and on time.

Time and time again, I’ve seen retailers try to solve this problem by ramping up their communication output: masterfully designed newsletters, perfectly timed emails, chat rooms to share real-time instruction and tightly organized tasks.

In the two decades I’ve spent working with retailers, I’ve found that organizing comms into four distinct categories can alleviate unnecessary headaches and empower frontline workers.”