Six Steps to Writing a Great SOP for Retail

Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs in business management have become an indispensable tool for management of a company or a retail enterprise to smoothly execute its various processes including the retail function.

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Six Steps to Writing a Great SOP for Retail
Jun 12, 2017
Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs in business management have
become an indispensable tool for management of a company or a retail
enterprise to smoothly execute its various processes including the retail
function.
A retail function comprises of several critical processes and operations. Retail
SOPs provide a step-by-step instructional guide to help employees engaged in
retail function to execute their routine duties eectively and eciently. The design
of retail sales SOP involves a systematic study and documentation of the various
processes, operations and activities involved in a retail function. A systematic
approach towards writing retail sales SOPs is covered here.
1. Identication of Retail Processes
Some of the most common and important processes in a retail function are
inventory management, merchandising, sta and vendor management, facilitiesMessage us

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management, cash and payment management, customer service, store security,
and audit. These processes are executed by almost every retail business
enterprise in dierent magnitudes. Without the eective and ecient execution
of these integrated processes, a retail function will not yield the desired results –
which could be in terms of footfall targets and conversion rate, sales targets,
revisits etc.
Without the eective and ecient execution
of these integrated processes, a retail
function will not yield the desired results
 2. Identication of Operations
Each process in a retail function comprises of several operations. These
operations are carried out by employees with or without the assistance of an ERP
application. For example, various operations involved in an inventory process
include purchase and reorder of stock, quality inspection, the return of goods,
storage and warehousing, transportation, recording inventory transactions,
process stock requisition etc.
These operations are carried out by
employees with or without the assistance of
an ERP application.Message us

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 3. Identication of Operational Activities
Each operation in a retail process is made up of activities which must follow a
logical step-by-step (either-or) sequence or a procedure to move towards
conclusive outcomes. This ow of work shall depend on the control measures a
retail enterprise wants to impose at every stage. For example, the decision to
purchase fresh stock may be authorized only by a designated authority (say
purchase manager) and such authorization request is sent only when the stock
reaches the reorder level. When authorization is granted, the executive can
proceed with placing the purchase order.
Each operation in a retail process is made up
of activities which must follow a logical step-
by-step (either-or) sequence or a procedure to
move towards conclusive outcomes.
 4. SOP Format Selection
There is no hard and fast rule for selection of SOP format. The ideal solution is
customization. As highlighted above, a owchart format is a good way to present
the pilot view of the full cycle of ow of work. This pilot chart can be accompanied
by a procedural form. For example, in executing a purchase decision, when the
stock reaches or falls below the reorder level, a purchase procedure form can beMessage us

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put in place. This form shall comprise of all the necessary details and conditions
to be fullled (reorder level, purchase quantity, a name of supplier, authorization
etc) before the purchase order can be executed.
There is no hard and fast rule for selection of
SOP format. The ideal solution is
customization.
5. Identication of the People Involved
Dierent operational activities or procedures are executed by dierent employees
depending on the size and structure of an organization. In retail SOP design, it is
important to identify and associate the people involved in each procedure. This
helps in assigning responsibilities, authority and accountability to the concerned
employees. It also helps in providing retail SOP training and communicating policy
and resultant SOP changes to the target employees.
This helps in assigning
responsibilities, authority and accountability
to the concerned employees.
 6. Training and Communication
Once the SOPs are designed or modied, the next necessary step is
communicating the changes in the SOPs or providing relevant training to
employees, as the case may be. SOP training is also important in a case of new
appointments, transfers and promotions. The primary responsibility for SOP
training usually rests with the HR, training cell and the concerned functional head.
Whenever there are changes in policies, there could be eective changes in
procedures as well which should be communicated to the concerned
departments and employees.
SOP training is also important in a case of new
appointments, transfers and promotions.
Writing retail SOPs require professional and domain knowledge and expertise. If
casually designed and implemented, it will not serve its purpose and could end up with
duplication of work, procedural bypassing, high carrying costs and low inventoryMessage us

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turnover and most importantly, it will create an unprofessional work culture and
environment.
 To know more about “Retail SOP” get in touch with our Retail Experts on
[email protected]
Author Bio
Nikhil Agarwal
Chief Operations Ocer
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