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As a retail manager, one of the best things you can do to save yourself time and money is to incorporate retail scheduling software into your operation.
In this article, the retail-management experts at Sling discuss the essential components necessary in a scheduling app that make your work life easier and keep your business running smoothly.
We also list five retail scheduling software options on the market today and tell you why only one is the best choice for your store.
Essential Components Of Retail Scheduling Software
1) Shift Scheduling
Number one on the list of essential components of retail scheduling software is simple shift organization for one to 1000 (or more) employees.
This should be the core feature of any app — the foundation around which the entire program is built. Without powerful and intuitive scheduling features, everything else becomes just one more distraction.
2) Built-In Work Hour Tracking
The best retail scheduling software will contain built-in work hour tracking as well as advanced time-and-attendance features.
These tools help you prevent time theft, avoid late clock-ins and early clock-outs, streamline payroll, and even allow you to turn any computer, tablet, or smartphone into a time clock and work tracking tool.
3) Labor-Cost Budgeting
Setting a budget for your labor costs — and sticking to it — is one of the best ways to keep your expenses under control.
A good retail scheduling software program gives you a variety of tools for budgeting, controlling, and optimizing one of the largest outlays your retail business will face.
4) Overtime Control
Controlling the overtime you schedule for your employees is essential if you want to save your business money and keep your labor costs under budget. You can minimize these expenses by choosing a scheduling software with dedicated overtime control features.
5) Labor Data Reports
The reporting feature of most retail scheduling software allows you to analyze your labor data so you can plan for the future and keep your business running smoothly.
6) Quick And Easy Communication
Communication between managers and employees — and amongst employees themselves — should be quick and easy with your scheduling software.
The best options allow you to send push notifications between you and a single individual, a group, or all of your employees at the same time.
7) Access To The Cloud
Cloud computing has revolutionized the retail scheduling industry and made it easy for managers and employees to access information like schedules, time-off requests, and substitute lists.
A cloud-based scheduling program is a must if you want your business to succeed.
8) Clock In/Clock Out Control
We’ve already talked about work-hour tracking, but the best scheduling software allows you to control clock-in and clock-out behavior with geofencing. This level of management prevents your employees from clocking in or out when and where they shouldn’t (or for other people).
Best Retail Scheduling Software
1) Humanity
The Humanity app makes creating, managing, and distributing retail schedules a snap. Humanity provides the necessary tools to organize one employee in one location or 1000 employees in multiple locations around the world.
One of the drawbacks of the Humanity app is that costs $2 per user per month with a $60 per month minimum after the free trial expires. That’s expensive if you only need to manage 10 to 20 employees. There are better choices on this list that offer the same features for less.
2) Deputy
The Deputy scheduling software app allows you to schedule your employees by skill set, manage fatigue and overtime, customize pay rates, and monitor attendance and breaks for everyone on your payroll.
But, like Humanity, Deputy costs $2 per user per month for the basic package. You can get the same advanced features for free with Sling.
3) Ximble
Ximble gives you plenty of features to make retail scheduling easier, including:
- Shift trading and coverage
- Multiple positions and pay rates per employee
- Labor-cost monitoring
- Availability and time-off management
In addition, Ximble costs less than the previous entries on this list, but you still have to pay for access to the same features that Sling offers for free.
4) Tanda
Eliminate manual schedules and use Tanda’s scheduling software to save time, control costs, and simplify your employee communications.
But if you’re looking for all the tools necessary to create the perfect work schedule for your team, check out the next entry on the list.
5) Sling
Sling is retail scheduling software specifically designed to reduce the workload of the busy store manager. Sling offers everything you need to transform the scheduling process into the easiest job you’ve got.
Features include:
- Easy-to-read calendar view
- Multiple-location control
- Geofencing
- Built-in time clock
- Employee and task color coding
- Retail schedule templates
- Advanced communication features
- Push notifications
- Recurring shifts
- Time-off notices
- And much more…
In addition to all the tools at your disposal, Sling monitors your work and notifies you if you’ve created a conflict in your schedule (e.g., double-booked an employee or accidentally scheduled overtime).
In essence, Sling acts as your own scheduling personal assistant.
The onboard A.I. also helps you monitor paid-time-off and other expensive labor costs in real time. As you schedule, you can keep track of your labor budget and make the necessary changes as you go in order to stay under your pre-set cap.
These advanced features make Sling the best retail scheduling software for stores and retail chains of all sizes.
Try Sling For Free
Want to explore the best software before you buy to see if it’s right for your operation? Sling is free to try for teams of up to 50 and unlimited locations.
It only takes a minute to register and receive:
- Fast and easy scheduling
- Access from anywhere
- Instant schedule updates
- Simplicity in finding replacements
- Effortless time tracking
- Efficient communication
- Free mobile apps
So put the best retail scheduling software to work for your business with just a few clicks or taps, and find new ways to save time and money in your store.
For more free resources to help you manage your business better, organize and schedule your team, and track and calculate labor costs, visit GetSling.com today.
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This content is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal, tax, HR, or any other professional advice. Please contact an attorney or other professional for specific advice.
