It is at this time of the year that I tend to look back at what RPM Retail has achieved and assess our performance against the vision that I had when I started the company. That vision was “to improve store performance by motivating and empowering retail staff”.

In the 5 years since we released the first RPM Retail software we have grown our customer base to over 400 retail stores and 40 suppliers in 6 sectors – so that’s a good measure of forward progress.

The wisdom of the crowd can be used to make the job of retail sales staff so much easier. The hardest part of retail selling is being able to confidently help a customer by suggesting the products that are the ideal solution for their needs.

Obviously the more experience and product knowledge the sales person has in their sector the better their suggestions will become. But with thousands of products in stock and the high turnover of retail employees, it is no surprise that most retail sales staff lack the necessary product recommendation skills.

The availability of retail sales data from a sector or retail chain can solve this challenge by tapping into the crowd favourites in real time. Knowing the products that are best sellers for the most common requests reduces the recommendations to learn from many hundreds to just a handful.

In every category, for every need, there could be tens of different product options. But in a clear example of the 80:20 rule in action, just one or two market leading brands, colours, styles or sizes can often represent 80% of sales.

Putting up-to-date market data in the hands of all retail sales staff will improve their confidence and recommendations. The result is more sales and more satisfied customers. Just don't tell shoppers that their herd behaviour is predictable.