This case study highlights AIM Consulting’s work with a leading national food and beverage retailer with over 10,000 locations that faced significant challenges with their staff scheduling process. Store managers were using outdated Excel-based tools that led to inefficiencies and higher employee turnover. AIM Consulting transformed their analog planning tool into a modern, digital application that streamlined scheduling, optimized staffing levels, and improved overall satisfaction.
What AIM Consulting did:
- Developed a modern, responsive web application using React, React Hooks, and TypeScript
- Implemented Context API for efficient state management across multiple components
- Built GraphQL integrations for seamless data retrieval and real-time updates
- Created detailed availability modals allowing managers to quickly view staff availability
- Enabled support user experience support partners
Case Study Contents:
- Business Challenge: Transforming a complex Excel-based staffing tool into a user-friendly digital solution
- Approach: Building a responsive React application integrated with GraphQL APIs
- Results: 100% adoption rate with significant time savings and improved employee satisfaction
Business Challenge: Excel to Digital Transformation
The retailer’s store managers struggled with an outdated Excel-based staffing tool requiring manual data entry and file handling. This inefficient process was time-consuming and error-prone, with managers spending excessive hours on administrative tasks rather than focusing on customers and team development.
The critical challenge was balancing staffing levels appropriately. Understaffing resulted in overworked employees and increased turnover, while overstaffing led to lost revenue and employee dissatisfaction when staff couldn’t get their preferred hours.
The retailer needed a real-time digital solution with an intuitive interface that could load quickly and accommodate various user roles with different permission levels.
Approach: Modern Web Application with React
AIM Consulting approached this challenge by designing a responsive web application that would integrate seamlessly with the retailer’s existing portal system. The approach focused on:
- Strategic Technology Selection: React with TypeScript provided a scalable foundation, while Context API ensured efficient state management across components.
- Data Management and Integration: GraphQL optimized load times and allowed for easy expansion of data fields without significant backend changes.
- Enhanced User Experience: The availability week details modal provided unprecedented visibility into staffing options with intuitive color-coding for metrics requiring attention.
- Collaborative Development Process: When the scope increased before launch, AIM’s team completed four sprints of work in just two, maintaining the timeline without additional resources.
Results: Streamlined Operations and Enhanced Satisfaction
The solution was successfully piloted in 400 stores before scaling to a nationwide rollout across more than 10,000 locations without significant issues, demonstrating the robustness of the codebase and the effectiveness of AIM’s development practices. The application achieved a 100% adoption rate, with every store manager in the company using the new tool.
Store managers reported significant time savings in scheduling tasks, allowing them to focus more on employee development and customer experience. Employee satisfaction improved as the system better matched scheduled hours with preferred availability. The retailer experienced more accurate staffing levels, reducing both costly overstaffing and problematic understaffing situations.
Manager testimonials validated the tool’s impact: “A great weekly addition to our weekly routines” and “It’s such a time saver.” Perhaps most tellingly, one manager noted, “This makes my life as a store manager so much easier — no more downloading, uploading, redownloading, struggling to copy and paste.”
The digital tool has established a foundation for future enhancements, including the already-in-progress support user experience that allows support partners to access store-level data across their regions. User engagement metrics showed sustained usage with over 43,000 unique sessions since the October launch, averaging at least one session per store manager per week.
Insights By
Empower Your Business with Modern Digital Solutions
Is your organization still relying on outdated, manual processes that consume valuable staff time and lead to inefficiencies?
Contact AIM Consulting today to explore how we can help you modernize your tools and empower your team.
