Matthew Speight, our Director of Stores, tells us about the transformative impact of our new VoCoVo headsets, which have been undergoing trials in our stores since last year.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE APRIL 2025 ISSUE OF A1 MAGAZINE
Back in June 2024, we introduced colleague headsets in a few trial stores, and we’ve seen some fantastic results so far.
We launched the scheme primarily to improve colleague safety as well as communication, both internally for colleagues and between colleagues and customers, and the benefits have been clear.
The headsets are simple to use, robust, comfortable and have outstanding battery life – meaning they can be worn throughout a colleague’s shift.
They enable colleagues to be fully connected with each other on the shop floor for the entirety of their shift, which boosts safety and efficiency. It is also improving in-store experience for customers, who can request assistance by clicking a button throughout the store that notifies the shop floor team via their headsets, and we’ve seen an uptick in both conversion and customer satisfaction in trial stores.
Colleague feedback so far has been positive, with colleagues noting that being able to instantly talk to their peers across large stores makes them feel safer, especially when confronted by shoplifters, and helps improve their efficiency and customer service.
Feedback from trial stores includes:
“Colleague safety has improved as they have alerted when they have felt vulnerable and the whole team can support.”
“Our colleagues are feeling safer and customer feedback has been very positive.”
“Our colleagues are better connected with each other and with our customers, bringing improvements to colleague safety/support and the customer experience.”
“We look professional, get to customers faster, and find the skill set the customer needs.”
“The bit I like best is when colleagues are interacting with each other to get customers help quicker!”
“Time saving is remarkable – no finding colleagues or ‘where is’ questions across the store as everyone is in the know.”
Because of the success we’ve seen at our trial stores, we’ve recently announced an investment to roll out these headsets in all UK & ROI stores by May 2025.