More perks for electronics store staff this festive season

livemint.com:

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI : Foreign holidays, gold coins, travel vouchers, and cash incentives are some of the perks consumer electronic brands and retailers are offering store promoters and retail staff this festive season to accelerate sales. “We are doubling the incentives for our staff and also the brand promoters who work in the store. The brands are also expected to roll out higher incentives this festive season which can range from electronic goods to holiday packages," said Nikunj Patel, president of All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA), Gujarat.

The festive season, which starts from September and runs till December-end, sees a flurry of discounts and a battle between offline retailers and online platforms for customer traction. However, manpower continues to remain a challenge as many retail staff have quit during two years of covid when offline stores were shut. Meanwhile, consumer expectations have evolved with industry experts saying retailers are stepping up employee training programmes and incentives to ensure better service levels at stores.

Typically, the incentive scheme during the festive season is multi-pronged. Consumer brands offer incentives to retailers and even promoters who represent the brand and remain for the period in the store, to ensure the correct sales pitch to a potential customer. Retailers too, have their own incentive scheme, which is target-based for their own staff.

South India-focused Sangeetha Mobiles is taking up its employee incentive programme a notch higher this year by offering free foreign trips for top-performing employees. In all, the retailer has over 800 stores and 3,000 on-roll employees; another 2,500 employees are off-rolls. The renewed sales thrust comes as the