High street retailers are increasingly investing in staff training to combat the rise of online shopping according to latest research by a national training provider, Protocol Skills.
Recent reports have shown that online retailers such as Amazon and ASOS have experienced sales growth despite the economic downturn, whilst high street retailers have continued to struggle and well known brands have folded.
As a result, national training provider Protocol Skills is reporting an increase in demand for retail training as high street brands look for ways to improve the shopping experience for customers in order to keep them coming back.
Dan Wright, chief executive of Protocol Skills, said: “There is a huge skills gap in the UK retail workforce, one in three retail employees has only a basic qualification or no qualification at all. In this tough retail market, having well-trained staff is becoming a high priority for businesses that recognise the need to provide a ‘wow’ shopping experience for customers.”
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According to the Association of Learning Providers (ALP) this increased demand for Train to Gain and Apprenticeships training has created an additional 14,000 training assessor jobs in the UK.
Dan added: “The boom in demand for training has created new jobs in the sector. We’re actively recruiting for more training assessors across the UK and, in particular, are looking for people with retail experience who can use their invaluable knowledge and skills to help learners in the retail sector achieve qualifications.”
