Standard Operating Procedures are documents explaining the steps to be
followed in various operating areas within an organisation such as Operations,
Environment, Service, Inventory management, Visual Merchandising, etc. This is
done in order to maintain discipline uniformity and quality standards within
the organisation.
Most effective SOP gives specific directions to users on how to work more efficiently in their area of responsibility. It is very important for an organisation to train its users on the SOPs of respective area of work in order to maintain uniformity at work place. Areas usually covered in an SOP are explained below :
1. Operations
2. Environment
3. Customer Service
4. Sales
5. Vendor Management
6. Staff Management
The SOP should cover critical areas of retail operations such as stock audits, cycle counts, cash management, handling returns from customers, damage and expiry control, inventory gate pass procedures, security measures, staff registers, log books, etc. This is very vast area and the SOP document should cover all the activity areas so that respective people have the needed guidelines to be followed in performing their day to day activities. The SOP should be updated on regular basis based on industry best practices.
Most effective SOP gives specific directions to users on how to work more efficiently in their area of responsibility. It is very important for an organisation to train its users on the SOPs of respective area of work in order to maintain uniformity at work place. Areas usually covered in an SOP are explained below :
1. Operations
2. Environment
3. Customer Service
4. Sales
5. Vendor Management
6. Staff Management
OPERATIONS
The SOP should cover critical areas of retail operations such as stock audits, cycle counts, cash management, handling returns from customers, damage and expiry control, inventory gate pass procedures, security measures, staff registers, log books, etc. This is very vast area and the SOP document should cover all the activity areas so that respective people have the needed guidelines to be followed in performing their day to day activities. The SOP should be updated on regular basis based on industry best practices.
ENVIRONMENT
This should all the activities related to store up keep such as house keeping, maintenance, dusting, visual merchandise of window displays and shop floor. It should have guidelines of how to put the signage and display units within the shop floor to project a unhindered customer movement within the shop floor. This also covers the up keep activities need at warehouse and back warehouse at stores to ensure merchandises are not damaged due to mishandling. The goal is to maintain a healthy working environment for employees and a pleasant shopping environment for the customers.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
This is a very important area and it has to be covered in depth the way a customer has to be handled in the supply chain. Supply chain here meaning sales, returns, post sale servicing, reverse logistics, explaining product usage and Customer Service Desk. This includes the loyalty program terms and conditions. All points of customer contact should be explained in depth with plan of action as this involves brand image and customer satisfaction. This area needs regular updates based on changes brought about in company policies and processes.
This is a very important area and it has to be covered in depth the way a customer has to be handled in the supply chain. Supply chain here meaning sales, returns, post sale servicing, reverse logistics, explaining product usage and Customer Service Desk. This includes the loyalty program terms and conditions. All points of customer contact should be explained in depth with plan of action as this involves brand image and customer satisfaction. This area needs regular updates based on changes brought about in company policies and processes.
SALES
This area covers the various procedures at Point Of Service (POS) such as sales, returns, float cash management, daily sales reports, credit notes, cash back, corporate sales and other services offered by retailer.
This area covers the various procedures at Point Of Service (POS) such as sales, returns, float cash management, daily sales reports, credit notes, cash back, corporate sales and other services offered by retailer.
VENDOR MANAGEMENT
This covers the processes involved in vendor relationship management and third party logistics such as how to list a new vendor, multi tier purchasing model, payments terms negotiation and other policies related to vendor management.
This covers the processes involved in vendor relationship management and third party logistics such as how to list a new vendor, multi tier purchasing model, payments terms negotiation and other policies related to vendor management.
STAFF MANAGEMENT
This includes processes related to direct payroll staffs, outsourced and brand staff, such as HR Policies, grooming standards, induction procedures, training, appraisal and sales incentives. This area is more intermingled with the Human Resource Department than operations.
This includes processes related to direct payroll staffs, outsourced and brand staff, such as HR Policies, grooming standards, induction procedures, training, appraisal and sales incentives. This area is more intermingled with the Human Resource Department than operations.
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