Retail companies have unique needs in all aspects of their business, from inventory control to special training, service, and marketing programs. So it’s no surprise that retail businesses would have particular needs for room reservation software as well.
Unlike government offices or universities, which might have clearly labeled and understood meeting locations, retail companies often have to create those meeting room plans from scratch. And unlike law firms or other types of business service providers that incorporate clients and billed hours, retailers absorb all costs internally. However, like all businesses, retail companies seek to contain costs and operate with utmost efficiency — which is where scheduling software comes into play.
Take, for example, the case of Staples Canada, a regional division of the world’s largest supplier of office products and a Meeting Room Manager customer. It operates locations in every Canadian province, and maintains its headquarters in Ontario, with some 400 employees on site. The staff often travels to and from the company’s various stores, and also needed a meeting room plan for when they were at home in the main office.
Like all companies, they needed a simple, intuitive interface and functionality, as well as universal access at all levels of the company. That is, online room booking and scheduling should be centrally controlled, but employees can request reservations and instantly obtain status and visibility. Other items on their criteria list that was created by the specially convened committee were complete tracking of expenses and flexible reporting.
With Meeting Room Manager, all of these needs were met — and more! One key element that other retail companies must deal with as well is the need for sophisticated and scalable room reservation software to accommodate changing and growing needs. Because retail has a close relationship to the consumer market, which does tend to have its up and downs, the solutions for retail companies needs to be able to grow and shrink as needs change.
*image courtesy of Chris Beckett
