Retail store visit and audit checklist to 10x your store’s performance
Retail store visits play a vital role in ensuring the seamless operation of your brick-and-mortar estates. These store visits are instrumental in maximising efficiency, enhancing customer experiences, and driving overall effectiveness.
When done right, a store visit can turn your slow-performing stores into well-oiled selling machines.
The regional manager can assess performance and work out what needs to change so they can carry on improving performance. With regular check-ins, they can fine-tune each retail store to ensure it’s operating as efficiently and effectively as possible.
So why do so many retail stores still lack advanced store visit procedures?
Most retail organisations ask regional managers to check in on their stores regularly, but there is no set structure for them to follow when they carry out their store visits.
This means many retail businesses find that store visits are ineffective because each is left to a person's style, process and opinion. Without proper structure, these store visits can be a complete waste of time.
You work in retail, you’re busy, and you haven’t got a second to waste!
In this article, we’ll tell you how to revolutionise your store visit approach to create flawless in-store experiences, drastically boost sales and unlock untapped revenue potential.
What’s a retail store visit, and why are they fundamental for business success?
A retail store visit is a process by which a senior member of an organisation visits a retail store to assess its performance and compliance with company standards.
The assessor is usually a regional manager, area manager or head office employee.
Their job is to keep the business running smoothly. Visiting stores across the country allows them to see first-hand how each one is performing and where the pitfalls are occurring, which could damage the store’s performance.
Customers are more critical than they’ve ever been before.
There is no room for mistakes or imperfections in retail’s competitive landscape, and you can’t regain a first impression. If a retail store isn’t up to standard, it will damage your reputation in a few ways.
It breaks down customer trust - Consistency is crucial in shaping customers' perception of your retail brand. When customers engage with your brand in-store, they anticipate a consistent experience. This encompasses consistent visuals, service quality, and overall brand experience.
However, when there are inconsistencies in their interactions, it raises doubts about your brand's authenticity. Customers may become confused about your identity and what you truly stand for. Therefore, maintaining consistency is paramount to building trust, reinforcing your brand's identity, and delivering a cohesive experience across all retail stores.
You can’t get back a first impression - If your store isn’t aligned with your brand standards, it means you’re giving off the wrong first impression every day.
Given that, one in three customers would leave a brand they love after just one bad experience, 92% would completely abandon a company after two or three negative interactions and 60% of customers would stop doing business with a brand if the service wasn't friendly. It’s essential that you’re on-top of exceptional in-store experience.
It could place you below your competitors in your customer’s mind - Let’s say your retail store is situated next to competitor brands. Their displays look nothing short of perfect, and yours looks tired and run down. Their customer service is exceptional, yours is almost non-existent, and the overall ambience is just 10/10.
Which brand is your ideal audience going to buy? You guessed it, your competitors. The worst thing is that once they’ve made that initial purchase, it will be hard to sway them over to your product to try something new.
What should a retail store visit or audit cover?
A comprehensive and structured approach is essential when conducting a retail store visit. It should cover everything, which gives the manager a holistic understanding of the store’s performance.
Here are the crucial aspects which should always be considered during a retail store visit:
Store layout and visual merchandising
Evaluate the store layout to ensure it is logical, easy to navigate, and visually appealing. Assess the placement of aisles, product displays, signage, and promotional materials. Consider factors such as traffic flow, accessibility, and the overall presentation of merchandise. Look for opportunities to optimise product visibility, highlight key offerings, and create an attractive shopping environment.
Product availability and assortment
Check the availability of products to ensure shelves are adequately stocked and well-organised. Assess the product assortment and determine if it meets customer demand and aligns with current trends. Identify any gaps or overstocked items that may impact sales. Consider seasonality, popular categories, and customer preferences when evaluating the product mix.
Customer service and employee performance
Observe interactions between staff and customers during your store visit to assess the quality of customer service. Evaluate the knowledge, professionalism, and friendliness of employees. Look for opportunities to improve customer engagement, product recommendations, and problem-solving skills. Provide feedback and training to enhance employee performance and ensure a positive customer experience.
Operational efficiency
Assess operational processes such as inventory management, stock replenishment, and cash handling procedures. Evaluate the effectiveness of systems and technologies used to streamline operations. Look for opportunities to optimise efficiency, reduce wastage, and minimise errors. Identify any bottlenecks or inefficiencies that may hinder productivity.
Compliance with standards and policies
Ensure compliance with brand standards, operational policies, and legal requirements during your store visit. Evaluate adherence to visual merchandising guidelines, pricing accuracy, safety regulations, and cleanliness standards. Address any discrepancies or violations promptly to maintain brand integrity and customer trust.
Customer feedback and insights
Engage with customers during the store visit to gather feedback on their experiences and preferences. Use this opportunity to listen to their suggestions, concerns, and requests. Gain insights into customer needs, expectations, and purchasing behaviours. This information will help tailor future strategies and improve the overall customer experience.
Competitor analysis
During a store visit, take note of nearby competitors and their offerings. Analyse their pricing strategies, product assortment, promotional activities, and customer engagement tactics. This analysis will help identify areas where your store can differentiate itself and gain a competitive edge.
As you can probably tell, that’s a whole lot of information to find out with very little time. That’s why each store visit has to be extremely efficient to ensure they collect all of the valuable information needed in such a short time.
What is the primary goal of a retail store visit?
So, to put it simply, the primary goal of a retail store visit or store audit (however you refer to yours) is to:
See the retail store from the customer’s point of view and assess if it is meeting standards.
Unearth and address the issues detracting from an exceptional customer experience.
Keep the store on track for success.
Why are retail store visits fundamental to business success, and what happens when you don’t regularly perform store visits?
Retail store visits are fundamental to business success because they provide invaluable insights into a physical retail location's operations, customer experience, and overall performance.
When you regularly perform store visits, you have the opportunity to observe firsthand how your store functions, identify areas for improvement and implement strategies to drive success. You can also;
identify operational bottlenecks, inventory management issues, and other inefficiencies, allowing you to streamline processes and improve productivity.
Identify strategies to maximise sales, drive conversions, and increase revenue.
Foster employee development by assessing employee performance, providing feedback, and identifying training needs, leading to improved customer service and employee engagement.
Stay competitive by staying informed about competitor activities, market trends, and changing customer preferences, enabling you to adapt your strategies and maintain a competitive edge.
Ensure brand consistency by helping retail stores to stay compliant with brand standards, visual merchandising guidelines, and operational policies, maintaining brand integrity across all store locations.
Gather customer feedback so you can understand their preferences and make informed decisions to meet their needs effectively.
On the other hand, when you don't regularly perform store visits, you miss out on critical information that can impact your business in several ways.
Firstly, without visiting your store, you may not be aware of any issues or challenges that could be hindering the customer experience. This can lead to a decline in customer satisfaction, resulting in reduced foot traffic, lower sales, and ultimately, a negative impact on your bottom line.
Additionally, without regular store visits, you may overlook operational inefficiencies that can drain resources, increase costs, and limit productivity.
Let’s look at an example
For example, you might miss out on inventory management issues, such as overstocking or stockouts, which can result in missed sales opportunities or excess carrying costs. Similarly, you may fail to identify employee performance gaps or training needs, leading to below-par customer service and a lack of employee engagement.
Another consequence of neglecting store visits is the potential loss of competitiveness. By not staying updated on the ever-evolving retail landscape, you might miss out on emerging trends, competitor activities, or changes in customer preferences. This can prevent you from making necessary adjustments to your product assortment, pricing strategies, or marketing efforts, putting your business at a disadvantage.
Regular retail store visits are crucial because they allow you to address issues, optimise operations, enhance the customer experience, and stay competitive.
Failing to perform retail store visits can lead to a decline in customer satisfaction, operational inefficiencies, missed sales opportunities, and an inability to adapt to market changes.
So, I think we’ve made our point, but we can’t stress just how crucial they are for retail business success. By prioritising retail store visits, you can proactively identify and address challenges, ultimately contributing to the long-term success of your retail business.
Why are most retail store visits ineffective and inefficient?
Because most retail organisations don’t give their retail store assessors a comprehensive framework to work from.
Not having a framework is like trying to navigate a vast forest without a map or compass.
You may wander aimlessly, encountering obstacles and getting lost along the way. Without a clear path or structure to guide you, making progress and reaching your desired destination becomes challenging.
Just as a framework provides structure and guidance in complex situations, having a framework for your retail store visits helps establish a clear direction, organise your efforts, and make informed decisions, leading to a more efficient process.
So what happens?
What happens next is that the assessor turns up to the retail store with their clipboard in hand, ready to make a few criticisms.
They spend a large fraction of their time chatting with the store manager, a small amount of time coaching in-store employees, and they leave ready to begin the arduous task of uploading all of their notes to the company’s internal portal.
They haven’t really unearthed any valuable insights; they’ve merely stated the facts about what they can see and made some suggestions based on the small amount of time they had to do so.
They haven’t set any tasks in stone, meaning most of them will be forgotten about.
Why is that method ineffective for retail store visits?
They’re visiting the store, making suggestions and engaging with the store manager, so what’s the problem?
There are a lot of issues with this method; allow us to explain;
#1 Time Management
The duration of an average store visit can vary depending on various factors, such as the size and complexity of the store, the purpose of the visit, and the specific activities involved. But typically, a store visit can range from 30 minutes to a couple of hours.
With such limited time to capture such valuable information, it makes sense that you should follow a strict structure which keeps you on track with everything you need to get done. Without one that assessor could have spent over half of their time chatting to the store manager, taking time away from other tasks.
#2 Lack of employee coaching
A retail store visit is the perfect time for a senior member of the team to share best practices on how employees can improve their performance and keep up with the other top-performing stores.
In the example above, this manager spent little time coaching in-store employees which means they get little support or guidance on what they can do to improve. And the old saying rings true in this case ‘Don’t expect different results from doing the same things.”
And because there was no formal process for setting the tasks which required deadlines, it meant none of them actually got done, a common issue in retail.
#3 Uncovering valuable insights aligned to the organisation’s overarching business objectives
Using old-fashioned paper and pen for retail store visits is extremely limiting, which means it’s a lot more difficult to uncover insights holding your store back.
It also usually means that the insights aren’t always aligned with the organisation's overarching business objectives or ideal customer journey. E.g. they should be spending a lot of time writing down notes about the organisation of the stock room when their COO is more concerned with how clean and presentable their shop window displays are.
With the power of digital store audit tools such as Ocasta Review, your area managers can:
Collect the exact insights their organisation needs
These would be mapped to their company’s ideal customer journey so they can uncover valuable insights in line with the business’s overarching business goals.
Streamline data collection
Ocasta Review allows for structured data collection in a consistent and efficient manner. It provides predefined fields and templates to capture relevant information, ensuring that nothing important is missed during the visit. This streamlines the data collection process and reduces the chances of overlooking crucial insights.
Have real-time data capture
With Ocasta Review, data can be captured in real-time during the store visit. This eliminates the need for manual note-taking or relying on memory. By entering information directly into the app, you can ensure accuracy and capture insights while they are fresh in your mind. This real-time data capture enhances the reliability and completeness of the collected insights.
Have access to multifaceted data collection
Ocasta Review can support various data types, including text, photos, and even audio or video recordings. This versatility allows for a more comprehensive and detailed collection of insights. For example, you can take photos of visual merchandising displays, record customer interactions, or capture audio notes about specific observations. This multi-media approach enriches the collected insights and provides a richer context for analysis.
Have better and more efficient data analysis
Ocasta Review has built-in analytics capabilities, which simplifies the process of analysing the collected data and unearthing hidden insights. By leveraging data visualisation, reporting features, or automated analysis algorithms, you can quickly identify patterns, trends, and outliers, making it easier to discover valuable insights that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Access to historical data comparison
By using a retail store visit app such as Ocasta Review, you can easily compare current visit findings with historical data from previous visits. This allows for trend analysis and the identification of changes or improvements over time. By spotting patterns or anomalies, you can gain deeper insights into the store's performance, customer behaviour, or operational trends.
Collaborative insights sharing
Digital store visit apps such as Ocasta Review facilitate collaboration and sharing of insights across teams or departments. This fosters knowledge exchange and ensures that valuable insights are not siloed. By sharing findings with relevant stakeholders, you can collectively uncover hidden insights and facilitate data-driven decision-making.
With each store visit, everything is scored. You see the good, the bad, and the opportunities to increase customer service.
Drill down to the specific stores, teams or regions that need corrective action, all from your store visit app.
#4 Manually uploading notes
Your area managers are busy people who are usually under a lot of stress.
When you make their job a lot harder by getting them to do things that take longer than they need to, it depletes their engagement and enthusiasm for the job.
Retail store visits then become something they dread. They rush out of the store to make sure they’ve got enough time to upload all of their store audit notes. Knowing they have to do the same thing again the next day.
Store visits done in this way are slow, outdated, ineffective and damaging to employee morale both for the area manager and for the store employees.
So how do you improve yours?
How to improve my retail store visit or audit?
Most store visits fail because assessors don’t have a solid framework and proven scoring system to assess retail stores as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Think of it like sending a plumber to a job with an insufficient toolbox. They will do what they can with the tools they have in the timeframe that’s available, but it’s hard to leverage their time because they’re ill-equipped.
The best and most successful store visits are ones that are consistent in their approach and their scoring criteria.
Why?
Without structure, every visit is left to each person's own style, process and opinion.
This leads to frustrating, inconsistent store visits, and missing the needs of the store, the staff and the customers.
We have created a retail store visit and audit checklist which you can download for free below. But let’s dive into a successful retail store visit in a little more detail.
A successful retail store visit should be based on a 5-step framework such as the one we explain below:
Step 1 - Preparation
An area manager should never walk into a store without having prepared by looking at the store's previous performance.
This is why digital store visit apps are so valuable because they make it effortless to see a store’s previous performance data within just a few clicks.
All assessors should prepare so they know which areas need more focus during their visit, which allows them to make the most out of the little time they have available.
For example,
They may look at the store’s performance from the last audit and notice that the store is struggling with queue management. They have a high footfall which makes it hard for staff to manage the busy crowds whilst also delivering the best service. In this case, it’s obvious that the manager needs to observe employee behaviour to try and uncover what’s been done to improve the issue and what further action needs to be taken.
Step 2 - Scoring the retail store based on a structured framework
Now the assessor is well informed on the store's previous performance, they can hit the ground running when they enter the store to carry out the store audit.
They can use their structured framework to quickly answer questions which are aligned to the organisation’s overarching business objective or ideal customer journey. Their multifaceted data collection approach will make it quick and easy to build a holistic picture of store performance; photos, yes/no, sliding vibe scales 0-100%, dropdowns, capacities and KPIs. Every answer builds up a scored visit audit report.
Step 3 - Action plans and coaching for continuous improvement
This is a fundamental step in the process which ensures you’re making the necessary changes to achieve your desired results.
Each store visit or audit isn’t about scoring 100%, but having the frameworks in place to make sure corrective actions are taken.
Use your findings to set tasks in the moment for employees and coach them on what they need to improve.
Step 4 - Follow up
Managers can’t set tasks for improvement and then abandon them.
Retail is a busy, crazy, hectic world and if things aren’t chased up, they won’t get done.
A key part of the process is following up with your stores to ensure tasks are completed.
The Ocasta Review store visit app lets you set yourself and your retail store tasks “in the moment”, with deadlines to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks.
Step 5 - Data Analysis
When you use a digital store visit app such as Ocasta Review, it makes it significantly easy for area managers to keep their finger on the pulse of all stores in their region.
They can drill down to the specific stores, teams or regions that need corrective action, and also look at the top-performing stores in seconds to assess what they’re doing that other retail stores could emulate.
When you follow this 5-step approach for your retail store visits. Not only does it make them simpler, but the consistent stream of data aligned with customer journeys and company objectives makes it glaringly obvious to see problems which are steering a store off track.
How digital store visit apps transform your business and 10x your success
Don’t listen to us; listen to Victoria’s Secret, who used our digital store visit app to increase upselling by 46%!
They used Ocasta Review, the digital store visit app, to carry out their store visits and audits. They then used the data from Ocasta Review to inform a three-step process that created a positive cycle of improvement: advise, amend, and award.
Advise
This step included monthly interactive training called a Skill Builder. It’s an interactive document filled with linked documents, inspirational videos and images that focused on the behaviours she wanted to encourage, all directly informed by the data coming from Review.
“I use Review to get a snapshot of the last 28 days and show me what’s happening across all our UK stores. It tells me what we need to work on, and what we need to celebrate. And that’s where I lean into education for the new month.”
– Steph
The store leaders use these Skill Builders to reinforce the key lessons when they conduct observations and create the action plans that team members use to improve.
Amend
Victoria’s Secret had seen how good Review had worked in-store, but they had a vision of how it could be tied even closer to their business goals.
They wanted to be able to make agile changes to the store visit questions to reflect and inform the training materials they were creating for employees.
“I wanted to be able to change certain questions, so the Ocasta team showed me how to do that. Now I can change them as soon as I want. I completely own it for Victoria's Secret. Ocasta’s training was so effective I was ready to hit the ground running.”
– Steph. Store Trainer
This meant that they could adjust the store visit questions to gain further insights into whether their training was working.
“So if the team member didn’t offer a fragrance experience, the leader has to record why. Maybe the customer didn’t want a fragrance experience because she always wears a fragrance she is used to, but maybe it was because there wasn’t a tester available. Or maybe they didn’t feel confident in delivering that experience. And that gives us more insight.”
– Steph. Store Trainer
They used this insight to feed directly into her Skill Builders. This created a tight feedback loop that meant they could adjust their training based on live data from the stores rather than outdated information.
Award
Finally, Victoria’s Secret directly tied the store audit data to Victoria’s Secret’s reward scheme.
“We call it Learn It to Earn It. It links into results, and we know behaviours drive the results, and the behaviours are what we're measuring using Review.”
– Steph. Store Trainer
The reward scheme was directly tied to a team member’s sales observations. When an observation met expectations, team members were one step closer to unlocking a level of reward within the scheme.
This encouraged team members to seek out observations, which then helped to reinforce the learnings that Steph had previously distributed.
The results
Victoria’s Secret had identified three data-led priorities to tackle; more consistent bra fittings, more consistent fragrance experiences, and making learning measurable.
Ocasta Review helped them tackle all three.
When we first began working with Victoria’s Secret, 86% of customers were being offered a bra fitting. At the end of their training initiative, this was up to 96%, an increase of 11.63%.
And in just one month, a combination of the Skillbuilders and line manager coaching had increased the consistency of fragrance experience offerings by a staggering 46%.
And Victoria’s Secret certainly made learning measurable at Victoria’s Secret. The cycle of improvement they created with sales observation data not only led to demonstrable results, but also increased general store performance, with average observation scores increasing by 7%.
And, more importantly, Ocasta Review had given them the tools to choose the right training priorities, as well as the peace of mind that they were doing the right thing.
“Review gave me the confidence to go after what I was going after. When presenting my ideas, I had the evidence to back it up. Instead of doing what I thought was right, I was doing what I knew was right.”
– Steph. Store Trainer
Are you a retailer that’s not making the most of their store visits?
Carrying out a store visit without utilising a solid framework, a scoring system and data is like sailing the open sea without navigation tools.
You're left to rely solely on intuition and guesswork, increasing the risk of making costly mistakes and missing out on significant growth opportunities.
Digital store visit apps provide the compass, maps, and weather reports that guide your decision-making, helping you chart a course towards success and steer clear of potential pitfalls.
Not to mention that they dramatically speed up the process to ensure your area managers feel calm and in control rather than stressed, overworked and miserable.
Want to triple sales in your business and increase customer satisfaction?
Our clients have achieved a 3x boost in sales, a 51% increase in customer satisfaction and 1200% more observations being completed.
And when you choose Ocasta Review, you’ll be in good company with the likes of Victoria’s Secret, Next, and Virgin Media O2, all using the app to drive sales and the performance of their teams.
See how Ocasta Review could work in your business in 3 easy steps
We’ll share a 25-minute demo.
You can see how a 60-day pilot would work.
Then try it for yourself.
Retail store visit and audit checklist FAQ’s
What is a retail store visit and audit checklist?
A retail store visit and audit checklist is a tool used by retail managers or auditors to systematically assess various aspects of a retail store's operations, including store appearance, cleanliness, inventory management, customer service, compliance with company policies and procedures, and overall performance.
Why are retail store visit and audit checklists important?
These checklists help ensure consistency in evaluating stores across multiple locations, identify areas for improvement, monitor compliance with brand standards, enhance the customer experience, and maintain operational excellence.
What are some common items included in a retail store visit and audit checklist?
Common items may include store cleanliness and organisation, signage and displays, product availability and merchandising, staff appearance and behaviour, customer service interactions, sales performance metrics, inventory accuracy, safety and security measures, and adherence to regulatory requirements.
Who typically conducts retail store visits and audits?
Retail store visits and audits are usually conducted by designated personnel such as district managers, store managers, regional auditors, or third-party auditing firms hired by the retail company.
How often should retail store visits and audits be conducted?
The frequency of visits and audits may vary depending on factors such as the size and complexity of the retail operation, company policies, industry standards, and regulatory requirements. In general, visits may occur monthly, quarterly, or annually, with more frequent audits for high-traffic or high-risk locations.
What are the benefits of using a standardised checklist for retail store visits and audits?
Standardised checklists ensure consistency in evaluation criteria, facilitate objective assessment of stores, streamline the auditing process, provide a benchmark for performance comparison across stores, enable trend analysis over time, and support data-driven decision-making.
How can retail store visit and audit checklists help improve store performance?
By identifying areas of strength and opportunities for improvement, retail store visit and audit checklists enable managers to implement targeted training and coaching initiatives, allocate resources effectively, address operational deficiencies, and ultimately enhance the overall customer experience and profitability of the stores.
Are there software solutions available for conducting retail store visits and audits?
Yes, there are various software platforms and mobile applications designed specifically for retail store audits. The leading tool is Ocasta Review, used by Virgin Media O2, Victoria’s Secret and Next.
