Over the past years, crowdsourcing platforms have become an essential tool that sets apart leading, innovative companies from the rest. Whether your company is a local start-up or a blue-chip company, it is undeniable that innovation platforms are becoming critical to the future success of your businesses.
Here are four ideas that came from companies using crowdsourcing platforms in the retail industry to stay ahead of the game.
Amazon Prime
Amazon wanted to find a new type of customer loyalty program that would revolutionize the retail industry. Instead of surveying a small group of consultants, Amazon opened up a challenge to their entire company and encouraged their employees to suggest ideas through their innovation software on their website. One would typically argue that the best ideas come from a few departments, but this wasn’t the case with Amazon. Charlie Ward, a software engineer, came up with the best idea that we now know as “Amazon Prime”.
Costco’s Employee Empowerment and Suggestion Program
Costco’s employee suggestion program resulted in having solar panels built in stores to be more cost-efficient. There is a low turnover rate in the company according to the CEO because along with higher wages and bonuses for being productive and accommodating, they show how much they care about their employees’ ideas and suggestions.
Sephora’s Think Tank
SEPHORA focused on fulfilling their customers’ desires as they searched for new concepts that the younger demographic would enjoy while at the same time contributing to the company’s growth. In 2017, their “Think Tank” was launched to encourage the next generation of leaders to develop the “next big idea” in retail. Their Think Tank team meets monthly to talk about the future of shopping five years from now. They also oversee “Idea Central”, their crowdsourcing platform, which efficiently sources different ideas from their employees worldwide.
My Starbucks Idea
Starbucks launched “My Starbucks Idea” in 2011 to gather ideas from its customers that would help them develop products they know people would like. With My Starbucks Idea, people are encouraged to suggest ideas and improvements relating to product development, in-store experience, and social responsibility. My Starbucks Idea generated 70,000 ideas from people around the world and chose 277 ideas to implement which led to several innovations to which Starbucks owes its success.
Staying ahead of the competition requires a strategic approach that leverages inputs from employees, customer, vendors, and the public. Through innovation software that streamlines the evaluation and refining of ideas, you can add millions to your bottom-line.
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