Retail LMS Solutions: Digital Training Transformation

In the retail world, if you can lower turnover, reduce training and onboarding time, and increase training efficacy, your business will be far more successful, agile, and resilient than competitors. Companies selling goods to the public at brick-and-mortar locations operate differently from businesses that do not interact with the public as often or intimately.

Retail organizations enjoy a turnover rate that would cripple businesses in almost any other industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2025, the retail sector saw an average turnover rate of about 60%. While traditional thinking led to an attitude of inevitable acceptance, today’s market is less forgiving. Competition for talent is increasing, as are the minimum wages in many states, making the traditional tolerance of a sky-high turnover rate far less feasible to maintain. Custom retail learning management systems are a fast, highly effective, and relatively low-cost way to bolster any retailer’s employee retention rates, reduce onboarding efforts, and attract the talent needed.

Overcoming Traditional Training Challenges in Retail Operations

Retail spaces have undergone significant changes, which have occurred rapidly. Consequently, many retail training programs have lost their relevance and ability to train employees to perform their jobs well.

Retail jobs involve more than pointing customers in the right direction; your employees represent your entire brand with every face-to-face encounter. Does your team possess the social and communication skills necessary to navigate customer interactions effectively?

What your team is selling has also evolved. Products are more complex, and people are asking different questions than they were ten or twenty years ago. Does your training program equip your team with the in-depth product knowledge they need to make sales and support customers?

Customer interactions are also becoming increasingly complex and potentially litigious. Can you say with complete confidence that your business’s training program thoroughly prepares your team members to act in compliance with corporate and legal guidelines?
Customized retail LMS systems give organizations the agility they need to train employees on trends, seasonal products, and promotions. Retail moves at a rapid pace, and without an easy-to-use and customizable training program, your team may be left with knowledge gaps.

Agile retail training enhances compliance, improves the customer experience, streamlines training, and ultimately gives your team the confidence they need to perform their roles successfully.

Customize LMS Solutions for Multi-Location Retail Chains

ROI on efficient employee onboarding and training starts to add up when organizations have thousands of employees. DHX partnered with a Fortune 500 grocery store chain with over 100 locations and more than 10,000 employees. They came to us with a problem: their training programs, conducted onsite at stores or a separate classroom location, were not meeting the minimum legal and safety standards.

Onboarding employees at each of their 100 locations was time-consuming, expensive, and cumbersome. New employees found the training to be boring and lacking useful information, making it a waste of everyone’s time and money.

This is where the beauty of customized LMSs comes into play; we quickly built a new training system that effectively trained their incoming employees. We used a private cloud-based instance of the eFront Learning Management System. With eFront’s branching capabilities, we created custom learning environments for each of their store locations. This gave their managers greater control and autonomy over their branches’ training. Now, managers and corporations can coordinate effortlessly. Onboarding and training new employees occur faster and at a significantly lower cost than the original training system, and the system is designed to track training records, which supports their legal and safety teams.

Measurable Benefits of Retail Training Digital Transformation

Increased Retention & Internal Talent Development

When it comes to employee retention, a current example of a retail chain that invested heavily in its employees, including their education, is Chipotle. Chipotle enjoys a high employee retention rate compared to its competitors, partly due to its investment in employees’ internal education.

Increased employee retention decreases turnover and its associated costs, cultivates internal talent, and feeds the management pipeline. For example, in 2024, 84% of Chipotle’s managerial positions were filled internally.

Improved Employee Engagement

Indifferent or inadequate training sets employees up for failure, which spells a loss for the company, whether in the form of a lost employee or the time and money invested in recruiting and hiring them. With an engaging and intelligent LMS training system, you tell every single person hired that they matter enough to be shown how to do their job well. This results in a more satisfied and engaged workforce.

Attract Top Talent

The best talent in any industry often has numerous employment options, especially in the retail sector, given the high turnover and constant demand. Companies that are known for treating their employees well by investing in their training (e.g., success on the job) will find themselves the preferred employer among talented retail workers.

Strengthening Brand Loyalty

Many consumers want to support businesses that invest in their employees. Brands known for their above-average employee education can improve their reputation as a socially conscious or “good” company. Plus, there’s no better word of mouth than from a satisfied former employee.

Reach out to DHX today for a free consultation and learn how a customized retail LMS can benefit your business.