Two global brand digital retail transformation case studies: Lessons & challenges

Most retail transformation case studies follow a familiar script: Flashy customer experiences. iPads in stores. AR demos. Cool tech everywhere. But these two case studies reveal retail’s best-kept secret: Success isn’t about the gadgets — it’s about the people behind them. Your employees.

This isn’t another article about customer-facing tech. Instead, we’re diving into how leading brands are transforming the way their employees learn, work, and drive success.

Here’s what happens when you give retail employees modern digital tools and training:

• Dramatically faster onboarding: Cut ramp time by 90% with AI-powered training
• Measurable ROI: Companies see up to 353% return on training investment
• Better customer experience: Confident employees are 13x more likely to make sales
• Faster results: Triple your close rates with well-trained staff
• Lasting impact: Combat the 87% of training typically forgotten within 30 days

Below, we show you exactly what this transformation was like for two multinational retail brands — each with tens of thousands of store employees.

(Details have been anonymized for confidentiality reasons.)

Here’s what you’ll discover:

• The real training headaches these brands faced (spoiler: you’re probably dealing with them too)
• Why a global sportswear brand ditched the one-size-fits-all approach — and what they did instead
• How a beauty retail giant transformed their training bottleneck into a growth engine
• Key lessons you can apply to your own retail operation, no matter your size

First, let’s tackle the obvious problem: why traditional retail training no longer works.

A look at legacy retail training and communication problems

A corkboard stuffed with outdated memos. Weekly meetings that half your team misses. Training consisting of “just click through these slides as fast as you can.”

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

Now multiply these problems across hundreds or thousands of stores. What do you get?

• Confused employees who can’t find basic information
• Inconsistent customer experiences across locations
• Lost sales from poorly trained staff
• Higher liability risks
• Wasted time and money on ineffective training

Or, for another example, think about retail training in a store with extremely high employee turnover.

One of our case study brands faces 40% annual turnover — and that’s normal for retail. Some stores see even higher numbers. Here’s what typically happens:

1. More new hires = lower quality training
2. Busy seasons = rushed onboarding
3. Overwhelmed managers = corners cut

The result? Your least trained employees are often working during your busiest times.

For decades, retailers just accepted these problems as “the cost of doing business” (because no one knew how to fix them).

Not anymore.

Simply throwing technology at the problem doesn’t work. Basic digital solutions like computer-based training or file-sharing often create more headaches than they solve.

Want proof? Let’s look at how two major retail brands tackled these challenges head-on.

(Note: While these case studies are anonymized for confidentiality, they’re packed with real insights you can use.)

Case study #1: The global sportswear brand that broke the mold

Here’s a retail giant with 1,000+ stores worldwide. And tens of thousands of employees — most still in high school or their early 20s. (Remember that 40% turnover rate we mentioned? This is that company.)

But this isn’t your typical retail job. Store employees work in what we call persona-driven positions. Translation? They’re not just selling products — they’re living the brand.

When you walk into one of its stores, you’re greeted by staff who actually wear, use, and love the products. It’s not just a uniform requirement — it’s a core strategy to create authentic customer connections.

Its training needs? Way more complex than basic compliance stuff. It’s constantly rolling out:

• New product launches (often several at once)
• Fresh brand campaigns
• Updated lifestyle messaging
• Seasonal promotions

And every employee needs to nail every detail, every time.

The company knew its old-school training approach wasn’t cutting it anymore. (Spoiler: that’s why they chose Bigtincan over 50 other companies to fix it.) But first, let’s look at what wasn’t working.

The communication nightmare

The problem: No company email addresses.

Sounds simple, right? But with thousands of employees cycling in and out every year, setting up and managing email accounts is a logistical nightmare. And before you suggest Dropbox or Google Drive — trust us, they tried. Those platforms are too clunky for quick-moving retail teams.

So how did information flow? Picture this game of telephone:

1. Corporate sends message to store manager
2. Store manager passes it to team leaders
3. Team leaders (hopefully) tell their associates
4. Something gets lost at every step

The result? A mess of printed memos on corkboards and dusty three-ring binders that nobody reads. Sure, team leaders were supposed to cover everything in morning huddles, but honestly — how often does that actually happen?

Here’s what we discovered when we dug deeper:

• Messages took days or weeks to reach frontline staff — if they reached them at all
• Zero way to gather feedback or measure if training worked
• No insight into whether anyone found the training helpful or interesting
• Corporate had to trust that training was happening (spoiler: often it wasn’t)

And compliance training? Imagine an ancient Windows computer tucked away in the back room. A line of new hires waiting their turn. Managers hovering nearby saying, “just click through it as fast as you can — we need you on the floor.”

There was a lot of friction in the system. It was barely working.

Bigtincan’s training and communication solution

Enter Bigtincan. Our approach? Flip the entire system on its head.

Instead of one clunky computer in the back room, we gave them a sleek mobile app that works on personal phones and store devices. But we didn’t just digitize its old system — we reimagined it from the ground up.

Here’s how Bigtincan Readiness solved the problems in its training:

• Replaced endless morning huddles with quick micro-lessons — bite-sized training that employees can complete in 15 minutes or less, right from their phones
• Created a live feed that pushes updates instantly to every employee — no more game of telephone
• Built an instant answer lookup system so staff can find product info on the spot while helping customers
• Gave managers and corporate real-time visibility into who’s completing training (and who isn’t)
• Created direct communication channels between corporate and frontline staff — no email required

Another unique consideration related to the company’s novel approach to fostering brand enthusiasm among associates.

Remember how this company lives and breathes its brand identity? We couldn’t just hand it a boring corporate training app. It had to capture their unique vibe.

As one executive put it: “Our brand isn’t just a logo — it’s what makes a pair of sweatpants worth $100 instead of $15.“

So we designed its app to feel like one of its ads came to life. High-end visuals. Perfect styling. The works. When employees open it, they don’t see a training app — they see their brand’s world. And that gets them excited about being part of it.

Here’s what this brand got with its custom-built Bigtincan Readiness solution:

• A training app that looks and feels like their brand
• Quick-hit learning sessions (as short as 1-2 minutes)
• Real-time updates that reach every employee instantly
• Clear metrics showing who’s completing training
• Smooth communication between corporate and stores

The results?

• Employees who truly understand and love the products they’re selling
• Customers who get better, more informed service
• Managers who know exactly what’s working (and what isn’t)
• A serious edge over competitors still stuck with corkboards and binders

Now, it’s time to see how another major retailer tackled similar challenges — but in a completely different industry.

Case study #2: Multinational beauty retailer eliminates pesky training bottleneck

Meet another retail powerhouse : 2,000+ stores worldwide. Tens of thousands of employees. Thousands of beauty brands and its own product line.

But here’s what makes it special: Every section of its stores has dedicated product specialists. Not just cashiers — actual beauty experts.

Walk into its fragrance section? There’s someone who knows every note in every perfume. Need makeup? You’ll meet an artist who can color-match you perfectly. Looking for skincare? Its specialists can build you a custom routine on the spot.

Think about what that means for retail sales training. These specialists need to master:

• Color matching for dozens of foundation brands
• Application techniques for hundreds of products
• The subtle differences between similar fragrances
• How to translate complex skincare science for customers

In other words — its entire business model depends on having incredibly well-trained employees.

The training bottleneck

This company got it: Well-trained employees = better customer experience = more sales.

But its training system? It was holding them back in a big way.

Here’s why: Store managers had to personally train every specialist in every department. And these weren’t just quick product updates — we’re talking complex, hands-on training for:

• Makeup application techniques
• Fragrance knowledge
• Skincare consultations
• Product recommendations

The problem? Managers already had a store to run. So guess what happened when things got busy?

Training got pushed aside. When that happened, it looked like this:

• Managers rushing through e-learning slides on the store’s only computer
• Choppy videos that wouldn’t load because of poor mall WiFi
• Rushed one-on-one sessions between customer rushes
• Group training that left half the team confused

The result? A massive training backlog that kept growing.

Even worse? Roleplaying exercises — crucial for learning how to handle real customer interactions — were a total mess:

(This is exactly why we later developed RolePlayAI, which lets retail staff practice with AI-simulated customers 24/7, getting consistent feedback without taking up manager time.)

At this point, this beauty retailer was struggling with:

• Quality depending entirely on each manager’s teaching skills
• No way to practice consistently across stores
• Zero feedback on what worked and what didn’t
• No connection between training and actual sales results

And worse, they couldn’t just switch to online training. Why? Mall WiFi.

Try streaming a high-quality training video over mall WiFi, and you’ll spend more time watching the loading icon than learning anything. Even basic 720p videos were too much for its network to handle.

To top it all off, its training records were a nightmare:

• Paper sign-in sheets that constantly went missing
• No proof training actually happened
• Suspicions that some managers were just checking boxes
• Zero visibility for corporate into store-level training

Bigtincan’s training solution

We built this beauty retailer a custom training app that turned its biggest headaches into competitive advantages.

First, let’s break down how we tackled each challenge:

Problem #1: Overworked managers

• Old way: Managers had to personally teach everything
• New way: Training happens anywhere, anytime, on any device

Problem #2: Zero accountability

• Old way: Paper sign-in sheets and crossed fingers
• New way: Real-time tracking of who’s completed what

Problem #3: No feedback loop

• Old way: Corporate had no idea if training worked
• New way: Clear data showing which content drives results

Problem #4: Slow mall WiFi

• Old way: Videos that wouldn’t load
• New way: Smart downloading that works around bandwidth limits

The company immediately saw how this would change its training from a bottleneck into a growth engine.

Here’s how it works:

Modern learning tools

• Interactive clickable training playbooks
• 3D augmented reality product training
• VR experiences that boost completion rates by 4x
• Integration with LinkedIn Learning
• SCORM-compatible course importing

AI-powered coaching

• Practice mode for safe rehearsal
• AI analysis of speech and delivery
• Detailed feedback on tone and presentation
• Topic coverage tracking
• Eight-point vocal delivery scoring

Data-driven insights

• Custom Scorecards tied to sales KPIs
• Skill and competency tracking
• Visual dashboards for individual and team progress
• Direct connection to CRM data
• Self-enrollment options for skill development

Easy access, personalized learning

• Any device, any time
• Quick ID login
• Custom training paths for each role
• Bite-sized lessons that fit between customers

Makes training fun (yes, really)

• Personal profiles showing progress
• Achievement badges and certifications
• Friendly competition between stores
• Real recognition for completing training

The WiFi problem? We crushed it.

Here’s our clever workaround:

Instead of fighting with slow mall WiFi during business hours, we put it to work at night. How?

1. When the store closes and mall traffic dies down (think midnight to 4 AM), internet speeds jump up
2. That’s when our software springs into action
3. The back office computer becomes a smart downloading center
4. It grabs all new training videos, documents, and courses
5. Then, it distributes them to every store device

The result?

• Employees get instant access to HD training videos
• No more buffering or loading screens
• Everything works smoothly, even during peak hours
• Training progress still updates to the cloud in real-time
• Zero impact on store bandwidth during business hours

In other words: We turned its biggest technical headache into a non-issue.

The big picture: What we learned

These two case studies reveal something crucial: Retail’s biggest training challenges aren’t really about technology — they’re about people.

Yes, digital transformation can solve these problems. But generic, one-size-fits-all solutions usually fail. Why? Because they miss what makes each brand special:

• Its unique culture and voice
• Its specific training needs
• Its technical constraints
• Its business goals

The real solution? Smart mobile apps that bring everything together — training, communication, and brand culture — in a way that works for your specific needs.

(We also offer options to integrate customer data, pricing, inventory management, e-commerce, and online shopping into apps.)

Here’s what modern retail training should deliver:

• Training that fits naturally into the workday, not disrupt it
• Instant updates that reach every employee, every time
• Clear visibility into who’s learning what (and how well it’s working)
• Data that shows exactly how training impacts sales and customer satisfaction
• AI-powered insights that help make training better over time

Why does Bigtincan succeed where others fail? Because we don’t just sell retail enablement software — we build solutions that fit each brand’s unique DNA. Just ask our clients in sportswear, beauty, yoga, and luxury retail.