How retail business and IT consulting work together to transform office operations

Why office managers sit at the crossroads of retail and IT

The evolving role of the office manager in UK retail

In a modern UK retail company, the office manager is no longer just looking after desks, diaries and documents. You sit in the middle of a complex web that connects head office operations, store teams, IT consulting firms and external suppliers. You see how decisions about systems, data and processes play out in real life, across the whole retail chain.

This position gives you a unique view of how retail and consulting come together. You understand how a new digital tool will affect payroll, stock control, customer service, and even how quickly store teams can respond to retail consumer trends. When a consulting partner proposes a new retail services platform, you are often the person who knows whether it will actually work for the people who must use it every day.

Where retail operations and IT consulting naturally meet

Retail offices in the United Kingdom are under pressure to support unified commerce, tighter supply chain control and better customer experiences. At the same time, IT consulting services promise digital transformation, data analytics and managed services to help the business grow. The office manager stands at the point where these promises meet operational reality.

On one side, you work with group retail leadership, finance, HR and supply chain teams. On the other side, you interact with internal IT, external consulting firms and managed services providers. You hear the language of strategy, business process redesign and management consulting, but you also hear the frustrations of store managers and office staff who just want systems that are reliable and easy to use.

This is why your role is central when the company engages retail consulting specialists, whether they come from large global players in the retail industry, such as IBM consulting, or from more focused firms like Columbus Consulting or Grant Thornton’s retail consulting practice. You help translate between high level strategy and day to day office work.

From daily operations to digital transformation

Most digital transformation programmes in retail start with good intentions but can easily miss the practical details that make or break adoption. Office managers are often the first to see when a new system does not fit existing workflows, or when data is not flowing correctly between head office and stores.

You are close to the business process reality. You know how promotions are set up, how supplier data is maintained, how consumer goods move through the supply chain, and how group retail reporting is produced. This knowledge is critical when consulting services propose new digital platforms, generative AI tools or advanced data analytics dashboards.

Because you understand both the operational constraints and the ambitions for growth, you are well placed to challenge whether a proposed solution will genuinely improve the retail consumer experience, or simply add more complexity for office and store teams.

Why your perspective matters to consulting partners

Good consulting firms in the retail industry want to learn how the business really works before they create a strategy or design new services. Your insight helps them understand where processes break down, where data quality is weak, and where staff are forced to work around systems that do not quite fit.

When you share concrete examples from your company, you help consultants design solutions that support unified commerce, better supply chain visibility and smoother collaboration between head office and stores. You can highlight where managed services might reduce manual work, or where a new digital tool could remove duplicated effort across departments.

Your feedback also helps shape thought leadership and best practices. When consultants see what actually works in your office environment, they can refine their retail consulting approaches and bring back more relevant ideas to your business.

Becoming a bridge between people, process and technology

To play this bridging role effectively, office managers need a basic understanding of how IT projects are run and how consulting engagements are structured. You do not need to become a technical expert, but you do need enough knowledge to ask the right questions and to spot risks early.

Resources on scaling agile solutions for digital transformation in UK companies can help you learn how technology change is planned and delivered in a structured way. For example, this overview of how to scale agile solutions for digital transformation explains how iterative delivery, feedback loops and cross functional teams can make IT projects more responsive to operational needs.

With this understanding, you can represent office and store users more confidently when working with IT and consulting partners. You can ensure that new tools support real business needs, protect data quality, and contribute to long term growth rather than short term fixes.

Setting the stage for the rest of the transformation journey

As you look across your company, you will see recurring pain points in UK retail offices that technology and consulting might help address. You will also see what you should reasonably expect from IT consulting partners, and how head office processes need to align with store technology to support a consistent customer experience.

From there, your role naturally extends into shaping how IT projects are prioritised, how office teams are involved in design and testing, and how a sustainable partnership between operations and IT can be built. Each of these areas depends on the central position you hold at the crossroads of retail operations and consulting led change.

Key operational pain points in uk retail offices

Everyday friction points that slow the office down

In many United Kingdom retail offices, the pressure comes from both the shop floor and the boardroom. Office managers sit in the middle of this, trying to keep operations smooth while the retail industry keeps changing at speed.

Some of the most common pain points include :

• Fragmented systems – finance, HR, stock, ecommerce and store point of sale often run on different platforms, with limited integration. This makes unified commerce difficult and slows decision making.
• Manual workarounds – spreadsheets, email chains and copy paste tasks fill the gaps between systems. These workarounds create risk, errors and frustration for teams.
• Slow access to data – head office teams struggle to get timely data analytics on sales, stock, supply chain performance and customer behaviour. By the time reports arrive, the retail consumer has already moved on.
• Inconsistent processes – different stores and departments follow different business process steps for the same activity, such as stock transfers, promotions or returns. This hurts customer experiences and adds cost.
• Limited capacity for change – office teams are already stretched with day to day tasks. There is little time left to support digital transformation projects or to learn retail best practices from consulting firms.

These issues are not just technology problems. They affect how people work, how quickly the company can respond to the market and how well the business can support growth.

Where retail operations and technology collide

Retail offices in the United Kingdom often feel the impact of decisions made years ago. Legacy systems, old contracts for managed services and historic ways of working can make it hard to modernise. At the same time, the expectations of clients and customers keep rising.

Typical collision points between operations and technology include :

• Promotions and pricing – marketing wants fast, targeted campaigns, but systems cannot easily handle complex offers across stores, ecommerce and other retail services. Office managers end up coordinating manual checks and late night updates.
• Supply chain visibility – supply and logistics teams need accurate, near real time data on stock, orders and deliveries. When systems do not talk to each other, office staff spend hours chasing information by phone and email.
• Store support – when point of sale or digital tools fail in store, head office is flooded with calls. Without clear processes and well designed services, office managers become informal helpdesk coordinators.
• New channels and unified commerce – click and collect, ship from store and marketplace selling all depend on joined up data and processes. If the underlying chain of systems is weak, office teams absorb the extra work.

Consulting services in the retail sector, whether from large management consulting groups or specialist retail consulting firms, often focus on these collision points. They help companies redesign the business process and technology stack so that operations and IT can move in the same direction.

The hidden cost of poor information flow

One of the biggest operational pain points is the lack of reliable, shared information. When data is scattered across systems, reports and inboxes, office managers cannot easily create a single version of the truth.

This leads to several problems :

• Slow decisions – leadership teams wait for manual reports on sales, margin, stock and consumer goods performance. Opportunities for growth are missed because the company reacts too late.
• Conflicting numbers – finance, merchandising and group retail teams may all use different data sets. Meetings are spent arguing about numbers instead of discussing strategy.
• Limited learning – it becomes hard to learn from past campaigns, store trials or digital initiatives, because the data is incomplete or inconsistent.

Modern consulting services in the retail industry place strong emphasis on data analytics and information governance. Firms such as Grant Thornton, IBM consulting and specialist players like Columbus consulting publicly highlight, in their thought leadership, the importance of clean data foundations for effective digital transformation and operational excellence. Office managers do not need to become data scientists, but they do need to understand where data comes from, how it flows and where it breaks.

Pressure from rapid digital transformation

Retail businesses in the United Kingdom are under constant pressure to modernise. Ecommerce, mobile apps, loyalty platforms and emerging generative AI tools all promise better customer experiences and more efficient operations. However, from the office manager’s perspective, this often feels like a continuous wave of projects landing on already busy teams.

Common pain points linked to digital change include :

• Project overload – multiple initiatives run at the same time, each asking for input from operations. Office staff struggle to balance project work with daily tasks.
• Insufficient training – new systems and digital tools are rolled out quickly, but training is rushed or inconsistent. This reduces adoption and increases support calls.
• Unclear benefits – teams are told that a new platform or service will improve the business, but the practical benefits for the office are not clearly explained.
• Change fatigue – after several waves of transformation, staff become sceptical. They may resist further changes, even when the strategy is sound.

Management consulting and retail consulting firms can help structure these programmes, but office managers still feel the day to day impact. They are often the ones who must coordinate communication, support adoption and keep morale steady while the company evolves.

Balancing cost control with service quality

Another recurring challenge in United Kingdom retail offices is the tension between cost control and service quality. Head office functions are expected to run lean, yet they must support a complex network of stores, digital channels and supply chain partners.

Office managers often face :

• Tight budgets – requests for extra headcount, new tools or improved services are scrutinised. This can limit the ability to invest in better processes or technology.
• High expectations – stores and commercial teams expect fast, reliable support. Any delay or error can directly affect the customer experience.
• Outsourced services – managed services and external providers can reduce cost, but only if contracts, service levels and communication are well managed.

Here, a clear business case is essential. External consulting firms and internal strategy teams can support with financial modelling, but office managers provide the real world insight into where inefficiencies sit and how improvements will impact clients and customers.

Why these pain points matter for future growth

All these operational issues have a direct link to growth and competitiveness. When office operations are slow or fragmented, the company struggles to respond to changes in the retail consumer landscape. New formats, new services and new channels take longer to launch. Customer experiences become inconsistent across the chain.

On the other hand, when office managers work closely with IT and consulting partners to address these pain points, the business gains a stronger platform for growth. Better data, clearer processes and more reliable services make it easier to test new ideas, support unified commerce and scale successful initiatives across the group retail network.

For a deeper view on how structured advisory support can help tackle these challenges, it is worth exploring this overview of the value of business consulting for United Kingdom companies. It highlights how consulting services can complement internal expertise and give office managers a stronger voice in shaping the future of the company.

What office managers should expect from it consulting partners

Defining what “good” IT consulting looks like for retail offices

For a UK office manager in the retail industry, IT consulting can feel abstract until it touches day to day operations. A strong consulting partner should translate complex technology into practical improvements for your head office teams, stores and ultimately the retail consumer. That means less jargon and more clarity on how systems, data and processes will actually support your business.

In practice, this means consultants who:

• Understand how a retail company really runs, from group retail reporting to supply chain planning and store operations
• Connect digital tools with real customer and colleague experiences, not just technical specifications
• Respect your existing business process and help you improve it, rather than forcing a generic template

Whether you work with large consulting firms that provide broad management consulting and digital transformation services, or with specialist retail consulting partners such as those focused on unified commerce and consumer goods, the expectations from an office management point of view should be consistent and measurable.

Essential capabilities office managers should demand

When you evaluate IT consulting services, it helps to have a simple checklist. You do not need to be a technology expert, but you should be clear about what you expect as a client. The following capabilities are especially important in a UK retail office context.

Many consulting firms, from global providers such as IBM consulting to more focused retail consulting specialists like Columbus Consulting or Grant Thornton’s retail services teams, highlight these capabilities in their thought leadership. As an office manager, you can use this as a benchmark when you compare proposals and delivery quality.

How consultants should work with office managers day to day

The way consultants work with you is just as important as the technology they propose. A good partner treats the office manager as a key stakeholder in the business, not just an administrator. You should expect:

• Regular, structured communication with clear agendas, actions and follow ups, not ad hoc updates
• Visibility of priorities and timelines so you can plan around peak retail periods, seasonal campaigns and supply chain changes
• Respect for operational constraints, such as month end, payroll runs, or major range changes
• Early involvement in design of workflows, forms and approvals that affect office teams
• Practical testing scenarios that reflect real life tasks, including cross functional processes between head office and stores

Consultants should also help you create simple governance around digital initiatives. That includes who signs off changes, how issues are escalated, and how feedback from store and office colleagues is captured and turned into improvements. This is where structured automation form governance can make a real difference, especially when you start to automate repetitive office tasks.

Using data and digital tools to protect office capacity

Modern consulting services in the retail industry increasingly focus on data analytics and digital tools, including generative technologies. For an office manager, the priority is not the technology itself, but how it protects your team’s time and improves the experience for internal clients and external customers.

You should expect consultants to:

• Show how data from finance, HR, facilities, supply chain and store systems will be combined into a single, reliable view
• Explain how digital workflows will reduce email chains and manual spreadsheets in your office
• Demonstrate how generative tools, if used, will help create documents, summaries or reports without adding risk to sensitive data
• Provide clear rules on data ownership, quality checks and retention, so your company stays compliant

When these elements are in place, office managers can move from firefighting to more strategic work, such as improving business process, supporting growth plans and shaping better experiences for colleagues and customers.

Ensuring alignment with wider retail strategy

Finally, IT consulting should never sit in isolation from the wider retail strategy. Whether your company focuses on rapid growth, margin protection, sustainability or unified commerce, the technology roadmap must support those goals. Office managers are often the first to see when there is a gap between strategy and day to day reality.

You should expect your consulting partners to:

• Explain how each project supports the overall business strategy and group retail objectives
• Show how changes in the supply chain, such as new distribution models or supplier portals, will affect office workloads
• Consider the impact on internal clients such as finance, HR, legal and property teams, not just store operations
• Provide clear measures of success that you can track from the office, such as reduced processing time, fewer errors or better data quality

By holding consulting firms to these expectations, office managers in UK retail can play a central role in shaping digital transformation that genuinely supports the business, strengthens the supply chain and improves the experience for every customer and colleague involved.

Aligning head office processes with store technology

Translating head office goals into store ready processes

In many United Kingdom retail companies, head office talks in terms of strategy, growth and digital transformation, while stores talk in terms of rotas, tills and customer queues. As an office manager, you sit in the middle of this gap. Your role is to translate business objectives, consulting recommendations and technology roadmaps into clear, workable processes that store teams can actually follow.

When retail consulting firms or internal IT teams propose new systems, they often focus on features, data and integration. Store managers focus on whether the change will help them serve retail consumer needs faster, reduce admin and keep shelves full. Your job is to connect these two views and make sure that every new tool or process supports unified commerce across channels, not just a head office dashboard.

Mapping processes from head office to store level

Before any new technology goes live, you should map how the process will work from end to end. This is where office management skills and a clear understanding of the retail industry become essential.

• Start with the customer journey – Work backwards from the customer experience in store and online. Ask how the proposed change will affect queues, returns, click and collect, and after sales retail services.
• Document the current process – Capture how tasks are done today in head office and in stores. Include who does what, which systems are used and where data is entered or checked.
• Identify friction points – Look for duplicate data entry, manual spreadsheets, unclear approvals or gaps between supply chain and store operations.
• Design the future process – With IT and any consulting services involved, create a simple, visual flow that shows how the new system will change tasks for head office teams and store colleagues.

This mapping work is not just documentation. It is how you make sure that digital tools support real world retail operations, from group retail planning to local store execution.

Ensuring systems reflect real retail operations

Many retail technology projects fail because the system design does not match how people actually work. As an office manager, you can reduce this risk by insisting that IT consulting partners and internal developers spend time with store teams and operational staff before finalising requirements.

• Use real scenarios – Ask for system demos that follow real business process examples, such as a late delivery in the supply chain, a price change, or a product recall.
• Check data flows – Confirm how data moves between head office planning tools, supply systems, point of sale and any digital channels. Make sure that stock, pricing and promotions stay aligned.
• Validate with store managers – Share early prototypes or screenshots with a small group of store managers and supervisors. Their feedback will highlight gaps that head office teams may miss.

By doing this, you help create systems that support consistent customer experiences across stores, ecommerce and other channels, rather than isolated tools that only work for one department.

Aligning supply chain, data and store technology

Retail companies increasingly rely on data analytics to manage the supply chain, forecast demand and improve the retail consumer experience. However, if head office analytics are not aligned with store technology, the insights will not translate into better outcomes for clients and customers.

Your role is to make sure that supply chain data, store systems and head office reporting are connected in a way that store teams can use.

• Inventory and replenishment – Confirm that stock data from warehouses and suppliers flows into store systems in near real time, so staff can trust what they see on screen.
• Promotions and pricing – Ensure that promotional data is consistent across head office planning tools, digital channels and in store point of sale, so customers receive the same offer everywhere.
• Operational dashboards – Work with IT and any management consulting partners to design simple dashboards that show store relevant metrics, not just head office KPIs.

External consulting firms, such as those that specialise in retail consulting or broader management consulting, often bring frameworks for integrating supply chain, data and store operations. When you work with these firms, focus on how their recommendations will be implemented in your specific company context, not just on high level strategy.

Working effectively with consulting and managed services partners

Retail businesses in the United Kingdom often engage consulting firms and managed services providers to support digital transformation, unified commerce and data analytics. Names frequently mentioned in industry reports include global players such as IBM Consulting, as well as specialist retail consulting firms like Columbus Consulting and professional services organisations such as Grant Thornton. Public information from these firms shows a strong focus on integrating business process, technology and customer experience across the retail value chain.

As an office manager, you do not need to become a technology expert, but you do need to learn how to work with these partners in a structured way.

• Clarify operational objectives – Before any engagement starts, define what success looks like for head office and for stores. For example, fewer manual tasks, faster stock updates or better customer experiences.
• Ask for practical deliverables – Request clear process maps, training materials and simple guides that store teams can follow, not just strategy slides.
• Check alignment with existing services – If your company already uses managed services for infrastructure or applications, make sure new projects fit into that model and do not create extra complexity for store support.

Public case studies and thought leadership from these consulting services providers often highlight the importance of involving operations teams early. Use that as a reference point when you ask for more involvement from office and store staff in project design.

Bringing generative and digital tools into everyday office work

Generative digital tools are starting to appear in retail offices, from automated report creation to smart assistants that help analyse sales and supply chain data. While these tools are often introduced by IT or external consulting services, office managers play a key role in making sure they support real work rather than adding noise.

• Focus on specific use cases – For example, generating first drafts of store communications, summarising weekly performance, or creating checklists for new process rollouts.
• Protect data quality – Work with IT to ensure that any generative tools use reliable, up to date data sources, and that sensitive customer or employee information is handled correctly.
• Support training and adoption – Help colleagues learn retail focused use cases for these tools, and gather feedback on what works and what does not.

When used carefully, generative tools can free up time for higher value tasks, such as improving customer experiences, coordinating with suppliers and supporting store teams. Your oversight helps keep these tools grounded in the realities of the retail industry and your company’s specific needs.

Keeping head office and stores aligned over time

Aligning head office processes with store technology is not a one off project. Retail business models, consumer goods ranges and digital channels change regularly. New consulting projects, new systems and new services will continue to appear.

To keep alignment over time, office managers can:

• Maintain a simple register of key processes that link head office and stores, including which systems and teams are involved.
• Schedule regular reviews with IT and operations to check whether processes still match how people work in practice.
• Capture feedback from store managers and frontline staff about what is working and where technology is getting in the way of serving customers.

By doing this, you help your company create a more resilient, connected retail chain, where head office strategy, supply chain operations and store technology all support the same goal: consistent, high quality customer experiences that drive sustainable growth.

Practical steps for office managers to influence it projects

Turn operational insight into IT project priorities

For a UK office manager in the retail industry, the most valuable contribution to any IT initiative is practical insight from day to day operations. You sit between head office, stores, supply chain partners and external consulting firms, so you see where processes really break down.

Before any new digital project starts, take time to document what actually happens in your company today :

• Map the business process from head office request to store execution, including supply chain and finance touchpoints
• Capture where data is re keyed, copied into spreadsheets or manually reconciled
• Note the impact on customer and retail consumer experiences when things go wrong
• Quantify delays, error rates and extra workload for teams in group retail, merchandising or retail services

This evidence gives IT and consulting partners a clear view of the real problems to solve. It also helps you challenge technology proposals that look impressive but do not address the core business pain points.

Use structured requirements, not vague wish lists

Many retail consulting and management consulting teams report that projects fail because requirements are unclear. As an office manager, you can reduce this risk by translating operational needs into structured, testable expectations.

When working with IT or external consulting services, try to define requirements in simple, measurable terms :

• Who is affected in the company (head office teams, store managers, supply chain planners, finance, HR)
• What task they need to complete, and how often
• Which data they need to see, update or approve
• What success looks like in terms of time saved, errors reduced or better customer experience

This approach works whether you are dealing with a large provider such as IBM consulting, a specialist retail consulting firm like Columbus Consulting, or a mid sized advisory such as Grant Thornton that supports retail and consumer goods businesses. Clear requirements help every partner design a realistic strategy and implementation plan.

Champion process and data consistency across the chain

Retail offices often grow through layers of legacy tools, manual workarounds and local spreadsheets. When IT launches a new platform for unified commerce, digital transformation or data analytics, these inconsistencies quickly surface.

Your role is to keep the focus on end to end consistency :

• Align naming conventions for products, locations and clients across finance, supply chain and store systems
• Agree standard templates for promotions, price changes and product launches
• Ensure that master data ownership is clear, so there is one source of truth for each key data set
• Check that new tools support the same process in every region, unless there is a documented reason to differ

By doing this, you help IT and consulting firms create solutions that work across the whole supply chain, not just in one department. It also makes future projects easier, because the business process and data foundations are already in place.

Represent store and customer realities in every IT decision

Many digital projects in retail are approved at head office but succeed or fail in stores. Office managers are often the only people in the room who can speak for both sides. Use that position actively.

When reviewing proposals for new retail services, managed services or unified commerce platforms, ask practical questions :

• How will this change the daily routine for store teams during busy trading hours ?
• What training and support will be available for new systems or digital tools ?
• Does the solution improve the customer experience at the till, click and collect desk or returns counter ?
• How will outages or performance issues be handled so that stores can still trade ?

These questions help IT and consulting partners design solutions that respect the realities of the retail floor, not just the theory of the project plan.

Insist on pilots, feedback loops and measurable outcomes

In a fast moving retail industry, it is risky to roll out large technology changes without testing. Office managers can push for a more iterative approach that blends thought leadership with practical learning.

Work with IT and consulting partners to :

• Select pilot locations that represent different store formats, regions and customer profiles
• Define clear success metrics, such as reduced manual entry, faster stock checks or improved client satisfaction scores
• Set up simple feedback channels so store and head office users can report issues and suggestions
• Review pilot data together and agree what needs to change before wider deployment

This way, every project becomes a chance to learn retail specific lessons and refine the solution. It also builds confidence among teams who see that their experience is taken seriously.

Develop your own digital and consulting literacy

To influence IT projects effectively, office managers need enough understanding of technology and consulting methods to ask the right questions. You do not need to become a developer or data scientist, but you should be comfortable with the basics.

Focus on three areas :

• Digital concepts : learn how unified commerce, cloud services, data platforms and generative tools support retail operations
• Data literacy : understand how data is captured, cleaned and used for reporting, forecasting and analytics across the supply chain
• Consulting approaches : recognise how consulting firms structure projects, from discovery and strategy through to implementation and managed services

Many providers in the retail industry publish open thought leadership, case studies and training materials. Use these to build your own knowledge so you can challenge assumptions, spot risks and help create realistic solutions that support long term growth.

Make governance and communication part of your routine

Finally, influence is not a one off activity at the start of a project. It is a continuous role throughout the life of any digital initiative.

As an office manager, you can :

• Join or establish a regular governance forum that includes IT, operations, finance and supply chain leaders
• Provide short, factual updates from the business side, based on feedback from stores and head office teams
• Track how changes affect workload, error rates and customer experiences, using simple metrics
• Raise emerging issues early, before they become blockers for the wider retail consumer base

Over time, this steady involvement positions you as a trusted partner for both IT and external advisors. It also ensures that every new solution, from core systems to advanced analytics, is grounded in the real needs of your business and your clients.

Building a sustainable partnership between operations and it

Creating a shared operating rhythm between operations and IT

For a UK office manager in a retail company, the most sustainable partnerships with IT do not rely on one off projects. They are built on a predictable rhythm of communication, shared goals and clear accountability. This is what turns digital transformation from a buzzword into something that genuinely improves customer experiences and day to day work in head office and stores.

A practical way to do this is to treat IT as a core part of the retail business process, not just a support function. That means:

• Agreeing a regular cadence of meetings that focus on operations, not only technology
• Using simple, shared metrics that link data, systems and retail outcomes
• Making sure store feedback and group retail priorities are always on the agenda

When this rhythm is in place, it becomes easier to align IT consulting services, internal teams and external consulting firms around the same strategy for growth, unified commerce and supply chain efficiency.

Defining shared success metrics that matter to retail

To keep the partnership healthy, both operations and IT need to learn to talk about success in the same language. As office manager, you can push for a small set of measures that reflect how technology supports the retail industry and the wider company strategy.

Useful examples include:

• Store and office productivity – time saved on manual tasks, fewer workarounds, smoother business process handoffs between head office and stores
• Customer and retail consumer outcomes – impact on conversion, basket size, returns handling and service levels across channels
• Data quality and availability – how quickly teams can access reliable data on stock, supply chain status, consumer goods performance and group retail reporting
• System stability – incidents per month, time to resolve, and how often issues affect clients or in store experiences

These metrics help you compare the value of different consulting services, managed services and retail consulting initiatives. They also give you a neutral way to discuss performance with partners such as management consulting firms, retail services specialists or technology providers.

Using external consulting firms without losing operational control

Many UK retailers work with consulting firms that specialise in the retail industry, unified commerce or supply chain optimisation. Names often seen in this space include global players in management consulting, sector focused firms such as Columbus Consulting, and large technology led practices such as IBM consulting. Some retailers also work with multidisciplinary firms like Grant Thornton that combine audit, tax and advisory with retail consulting and data analytics capabilities.

As office manager, your role is not to choose the brand, but to protect operational reality. You can do this by insisting that any consulting engagement:

• Starts with clear operational objectives, not only a technology roadmap
• Includes time with office teams and store colleagues to learn how work is really done
• Produces simple documentation that office staff can use after the consultants leave
• Builds internal capability, so the company does not become dependent on external experts for basic changes

This approach keeps the balance between specialist consulting services and the day to day knowledge that lives in your office and store network.

Embedding continuous learning about retail technology

Retail technology moves quickly, from data analytics and digital supply chain tools to generative AI and new unified commerce platforms. A sustainable partnership between operations and IT depends on continuous learning, not one off training sessions.

You can encourage this by:

• Setting up short, regular knowledge sessions where IT explains new tools in plain business language
• Asking consulting partners to run practical workshops that show how to use new services in real retail scenarios
• Creating simple internal guides that help colleagues learn retail systems step by step
• Capturing lessons from each project and turning them into checklists for future initiatives

Over time, this builds confidence in using digital tools across the company. It also makes it easier to evaluate new offers from retail consulting firms or technology vendors, because your teams understand the basics of data, supply chain systems and digital platforms.

Governance that protects both stability and innovation

Retail offices often sit between the need for stable operations and the pressure to innovate. A clear governance structure helps you manage this tension with IT. It does not need to be complex, but it should be consistent.

Consider working with IT to define:

• Decision rights – who can approve changes that affect store processes, customer journeys or supply chain steps
• Risk thresholds – what level of disruption is acceptable during rollouts, and how to protect peak trading periods
• Change windows – agreed times when system changes can be made without harming critical retail services
• Escalation paths – clear routes for office and store teams to raise issues when new tools affect clients or internal users

Good governance does not slow down growth. Instead, it gives IT and operations a shared framework to create change safely, whether the project is led by internal teams or external consulting firms.

Keeping the customer and colleague experience at the centre

Finally, the most durable partnerships between operations and IT in the retail sector are those that keep human experience at the centre. Every digital initiative, every data project and every supply chain improvement should be traced back to its impact on customers and colleagues.

As office manager, you can keep this focus by:

• Asking how each IT project will change the experience for store staff, office teams and retail consumers
• Requesting simple journey maps that show how new tools affect the end to end chain, from supplier to shelf to client
• Ensuring pilots include both high performing and challenging locations, so you see a realistic picture of impact
• Feeding back real stories from stores and head office into IT planning, not only numerical data

When operations and IT share responsibility for the human side of change, technology becomes a genuine enabler of better retail experiences, stronger business performance and long term growth across the company.