Payless' in-store associates fall into one of three categories: Managers, Full-time and Part-time. The table below summarizes the typical end users.
|
Managers
|
Full-time
|
Part-time
|
|
| Typical Age |
22-35
|
18-24
|
|
| M:F Ratio |
50:50
|
30:70
|
10:90
|
| Education |
HS
some college (AA degree is typical)
|
HS
|
|
| Ethnicity |
Mixed;
many multilingual
|
Highly
mixed; many multilingual
|
|
| Time to Train |
72
hours
|
30
hours
|
20
hours
|
| Computer Literacy |
70%
|
50%
|
|
| Retail Experience |
Almost
always
|
Some
|
|
| Shoe Retail Experience |
Not
necessarily
|
||
| Tenure |
5-6
years
|
1
year
|
7-8
months
|
| Turn rate |
15%
|
60%
|
96%
|
One of the success criteria for Payless was to design the RPSS so that it provided day-one support for such a diverse audience. Some of the concerns included the large number of people with no or little computer skills and education level.
Certainly, the costs associated with time to train as well as the turn rate were drivers for the RPSS.
One of the most significant considerations based on end users was the ability to support multiple languages. This was not a nice to have feature, for in many locations English is not the primary language. As such, the RPSS had to be designed in a way to facilitate translating content as well as a way to deliver multiple flavors of the system.
