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Stop the app avalanche: a smarter way to equip store teams
September 2, 2025 • 3 min read
Article
Retail companies have been busy implementing an increasing number of software services in their stores to optimize and streamline processes, as well as support their store teams. This has been accompanied by a swift shift toward using third-party software platforms, instead of building most of it in-house.
It has led to an increase in mobile devices, and an explosion in the number of apps that store associates need to work with. Every app has its own UI/UX language and terminology - if you even know which app to open for which task.
At the same time, we have seen turnover rates increase in the past few years, and tenures shortening. This has created an operational challenge: how do you get store associates up to speed on the most common processes?
Store insights
When studying how store teams work in stores, we have derived the following insights:
The majority of store associates use only a limited set of functions.
Inefficient UX
Replicating 20% of the third-party platform functionality is easy, the last 80% is the hardest.
Third party platforms
More experienced store associates can be trained on the full set of functions.
Trained users
These insights could help us with a solution: the dual approach.
Switch to a dual approach
- Create an in-house companion app (’Single Pane of Glass’) that focuses on daily, high-frequency tasks that are relevant for all store associates. This creates a seamless workflow, UI/UX and understandable terminology, and new hires can be up and running really quickly.
- Leverage third-party platform-native apps for specialist and low-frequency tasks, that are relevant to a limited number of experienced store associates. You can deep-link to specific functions from the in-house companion app.
In this way, you can have the best of both worlds: with minimal in-house development, you create a seamless environment for store associates. Another advantage is that you can heavily customize the most customer-centric workflows.
Application to RFID
When working with RFID, there are many tasks that happen in the store. We can classify them along the lines defined above.
What we would integrate into the in-house companion app, are functionalities like product availability check, refill and status assignment. This would leave functionalities like Count and Shipments in the platform-native app.
This also makes sense from a complexity point of view: it is very hard to replicate Count or Shipment functionality in your own companion app. Not only do you need to deal with external RFID hardware, but it requires tight synchronization with the backend and other apps to facilitate things like Team Count and/or Virtual Shielding.
It is much easier to build a product availability check: this mostly involves a QR code scan and a backend API check.
iD Cloud is designed for this
API-first by design, iD Cloud exposes the very services that power the iD Cloud app. Use these performant, well-documented APIs to build your own application on the same real-time data available in iD Cloud. Our teams can support you throughout your journey toward a single pane of glass!
Nedap is here to support your journey
At Nedap, we help global retailers successfully adopt and scale RFID by enabling real-time stock accuracy, improving product availability across channels, and supporting smarter operations — empowering brands to enhance their processes, wherever they are in their journey.
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