Implement a kaizen culture to improve the customer experience at Fnac stores

The cultural and technology retail sector has been undergoing significant transformation for several years. The growth of e-commerce and the rapid evolution of technologies and consumer habits require brands to continuously rethink their operating models and customer experiences.

Today, customers have immediate access to information and can easily compare products and prices online. In this context, physical stores must offer much more than a simple point of sale: they must deliver a seamless and personalized customer experience with high added value.

The company and its commitment to customer experience

Fnac, one of Europe’s leading retailers of cultural and technological products, offers a wide range of products and services, from books and music to electronics and technology. Since its inception, the brand has distinguished itself through its focus on expert advice, in-depth product knowledge, and a high-quality in-store customer experience.

In a context where consumer expectations evolve rapidly and where the purchasing experience is becoming increasingly omnichannel, Fnac continues to place the customer experience at the center of its strategy. Stores are fundamental to this approach, allowing customers to discover products, receive personalized advice, and access a range of associated services.

With the aim of ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience at all its points of sale, the company has been gradually restructuring its operations based on principles of continuous improvement. This approach aims to enhance team effectiveness, improve the flow of information, and allow employees to devote more time to the brand’s top priority: guiding customers in their decisions and providing them with the best possible in-store experience.

Improvement opportunities in store operations

In a fast-paced retail environment, stores must manage a wide range of daily activities: customer service, product advice, stock management, promoting new arrivals, promotional campaigns, and processing orders from online sales.

In this context, teams work in an environment where priorities can change rapidly and where coordination among employees is essential to ensure consistent customer experience.

Over time, several improvement opportunities were identified in store operations, paving the way for broader reflection on structuring work practices and routines.

Improving the structure of daily routines

Store operations rely on numerous tasks carried out simultaneously by teams. With this in mind, better structuring certain daily routines presented an opportunity to streamline work organization and make the day’s priorities clearer.

Improving information and indicator visibility

In an operational environment where decisions often need to be made quickly, having clear and accessible information for all teams is an important element for efficiency.

Strengthening the visibility of key indicators and facilitating access to operational information, therefore, represented an area for improvement to support teams in their daily activities.

Encouraging team involvement in process improvement

Store employees are closer to day-to-day operations and customers; therefore, valuing their input in identifying opportunities for improvement and finding solutions has been a key factor in the evolution of the company’s practices.

Maintaining consistency of practices across all stores

In an organization with multiple points of sale, it is equally important to ensure consistency in practices, routines, and standards.

This helps, in particular, to facilitate collaboration between teams, support the onboarding of new employees, and enhance operational efficiency across the company.

Implementing continuous improvement in stores

To address the improvement opportunities identified in stores, several tools, methodologies, and practices were progressively introduced to structure operations and support teams in their daily activities.

Implemented directly on the shop floor, these actions aim to improve operational visibility, facilitate information flow, and strengthen employee involvement in continuous improvement.

Several key actions were implemented:

A structured framework to implement continuous improvement

To structure this large-scale transformation, Fnac developed the ISI program, whose initials stand for Innovation, Simplification, Implementation.

This program provides the methodological framework for implementing kaizen principles throughout the organization.

The model is based on four complementary pillars:

• Daily ISI: which structures operational routines in stores and allows teams to analyze their indicators and identify improvement opportunities directly on the shop floor.
• Project ISI: which concerns more complex improvement initiatives that require collaboration across multiple teams or departments.
• ISI Leaders: which develops leadership routines, namely through gemba walks, to support teams and ensure compliance with standards.
• ISI Support: which ensures training and support for employees in their continuous improvement journey.

Figure 1 – ISI program for continuous improvement

This framework ensures that continuous improvement is not limited to a one-off initiative, but becomes a daily practice integrated into all of the company’s activities.

Daily KAIZEN™ to align teams

Within the scope of the Daily ISI pillar, stores introduced regular sharing moments that allow teams to exchange essential information and analyze performance.

“Daily meetings are essential to analyze our performance as a team and as individuals, allowing us to understand what we need to improve, what we can improve, and what our objectives are.” – Gliceria Pereira, Head of Editorial Products at FNAC, Portugal

These daily meetings allow teams to:

• Analyze the results of the previous day.
• Share the challenges encountered.
• Identify improvement opportunities.
• Align priorities for the day.

In addition to tracking indicators, these moments play an important role in communication and coordination between teams.

Figure 2 – Fnac team during a daily meeting

Visual management to support decision-making

Visual management was introduced in stores to make information and indicators more visible and accessible to teams.

Performance dashboards provide visibility into key metrics, objectives, and ongoing improvement initiatives. This visibility makes it easier to understand priorities and enables teams to better track their performance over time.

“It was all very confusing, and we couldn’t understand which messages we should convey to the teams. I think that helped a lot. And, above all, I think that, overall, it has improved all company communication and the flow of information. “– Gliceria Pereira, Head of Editorial Products at FNAC, Portugal

Visual management also provides essential support for communication among employees and helps improve information flow within teams.

Organizing workspaces with the 5S method

As part of structuring store operations, particular attention was also given to organizing workspaces.

Through the 5S method, teams work to structure and maintain organized workspaces, facilitating access to tools, information, and resources required for daily operations.

This approach helps improve team efficiency, reduce time wasted, and ensure a clearer, more structured work environment.

Workspace organization thus constitutes an important element in supporting operational standards and continuous improvement initiatives in the store.

Figure 4 – Workspace organization in the store according to the 5S method

Gemba walks to strengthen leadership on the shop floor

As part of the ISI Leaders pillar, managers regularly conduct Gemba Walks to observe operations directly on the shop floor.

These visits allow them to assess compliance with standards, identify opportunities for improvement, and support teams in resolving specific operational issues.

By ensuring that managers are regularly present on the shop floor, alongside daily activities, gemba walks help deepen understanding of on-site realities and support teams in their improvement initiatives.

Figure 5 – Monitoring compliance with standards during a gemba walk

Structuring the customer experience with the 6C method

To support teams in interacting with customers, Fnac also uses a methodology called 6C, integrated into the sales support guide.

This approach structures the different stages of the in-store customer journey, from initial contact to purchase completion. It is based on several key steps that guide teams in their relationship with customers: connect, understand, convince, close, confirm, and create loyalty.

This approach helps employees to:

• Understand customer needs.
• Present the most appropriate solutions.
• Clarify potential questions.
• Strengthen the relationship with the customer.

“Customer experience is the most important element. It is our absolute priority.” – Gliceria Pereira, Head of Editorial Products at FNAC, Portugal

Digital tools to support in-store teams

To support teams in their interactions with customers, Fnac also introduced several digital tools in stores.

In particular, sales representatives have mobile devices that allow them to quickly access information about products, available services, and certain metrics related to their work.

These tools help simplify access to information and enable employees to better support customers in their purchasing decisions.

Figure 6 – Mobile device for sales associates

Improvements driven directly from the shop floor

The continuous improvement approach implemented at Fnac places great emphasis on initiatives that originate directly from the store teams.

Employees are encouraged to identify opportunities for improvement in their daily activities and to propose solutions tailored to the realities on the shop floor.

“For me, the biggest wins are the simplest ones. They’re the ones where the teams work hard and find the solutions on their own.” – Gliceria Pereira, Head of Editorial Products at FNAC, Portugal

Some improvements may be simple, but they can have a significant impact on how work is organized. For example, the introduction of walkie-talkies in some stores has improved communication among teams and made coordination easier during busy periods.

Training to develop team capabilities

To support this transformation, Fnac also offers a structured training program through its in-house academy.

Employees can follow different paths covering kaizen foundations, operational team training, and leadership development.

These training programs help spread the principles of continuous improvement throughout the organization and enable teams to develop the skills needed to actively participate in improvement initiatives.

Observed results in operations and team engagement

The gradual implementation of continuous improvement practices at Fnac stores has yielded a number of benefits, both in operational terms and in terms of team engagement.

Key observed results:

• Improved information flow between teamsdue to better visibility of priorities and indicators.
• Simplified operational processes, making it possible to reduce certain repetitive tasks and limit rework.
• More intuitive access to data and performance indicators, facilitating understanding of results and decision-making.
• Time savings for employees, allowing them to focus more on their advisory role with customers and thus contribute to improving customer satisfaction measured by NPS.
• Strengthened team engagement in identifying and implementing improvement initiatives.
• Improved coordination among employees, particularly during periods of peak activity in-store.

A shared culture of continuous improvement

In an organization like Fnac, where stores are spread across multiple territories and where teams and contexts may vary, maintaining consistency in practices represents a major challenge.

Through shared methods, the dissemination of best practices, and a structured training program, teams develop a common language and a similar approach to continuous improvement.

Beyond the tools, it is above all the Kaizen culture that sustains this dynamic. By encouraging each individual to contribute to continuous improvement, this culture provides a lasting response to the operational and organizational challenges faced by companies.