Managing and coordinating employee schedules can be challenging for store managers, especially when dealing with shift changes and time-off requests. Collaboration software helps store managers improve effective communication with their staff.
While the software can help you easily create and share schedules, how do you know which software aligns best with your needs?
To help you make the right decision, this article highlights, in alphabetical order, the five top-rated collaboration software for retail based on user reviews. For each product, we include overall user ratings along with the highest-rated parameter, review excerpts from industry professionals, and product pricing. Read more.
1. Asana
To present the most up-to-date information, the product information below shows the latest real-time ratings, which may differ from the ratings values at the time this report's analysis was conducted, since new reviews may have been left in the meantime.
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Highest-rated parameter
Commonly used by
Starting price
Device compatibility
Here are some review excerpts from retail professionals who have used Asana for collaboration:
"Asana has a simple and clean UI that allows you to get familiarized with the product right away. There are several online tutorials and guides that also help you to understand basic and advanced functionality. Once you start getting proficient with using the solution you will start unlocking its different advantages both for personal and team projects and tasks management.”
"I've been using Asana for just about a year now, and we began using it with the growth of our marketing team. It has been essential for project planning, for task management, and for helping me to prioritize which tasks need to be accomplished first. The increased organization has helped me to face a big workload with less anxiety."
"A project management tool to improve productivity and collaboration, Asana offers you the most basic features for free. It can be used for most of the cases and with some simple integrations (and advanced - if you use third-party services) it can deliver you what you need."
2. ClickUp
To present the most up-to-date information, the product information below shows the latest real-time ratings, which may differ from the ratings values at the time this report's analysis was conducted, since new reviews may have been left in the meantime.
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Highest-rated parameter
Commonly used by
Starting price
Device compatibility
Here are some review excerpts from retail professionals who have used ClickUp:
"ClickUp has a lot of great features but my favourite is the ability to add comments & projects to coworkers or groups within the org, and you can change your status of the task as your going along (Complete, in progress, add questions etc) and the stream displays the workflow in real-time, so it's like a social media feed for your working projects."
"Can organize, monitor, and collaborate on any project; can create the ideal workflow for you and your team; can manage development sprints; and can do much more."
"This project management software makes it super easy to keep myself on tasks for projects, deadlines, docs and so much more!"
Read all ClickUp reviews here.
3. Dropbox Business
To present the most up-to-date information, the product information below shows the latest real-time ratings, which may differ from the ratings values at the time this report's analysis was conducted, since new reviews may have been left in the meantime.
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Highest-rated parameter
Commonly used by
Starting price
Device compatibility
Here are some review excerpts from retail professionals who have used Dropbox Business for collaboration:
"A huge advantage of Dropbox is the possibility of using it on many devices. Instant synchronization makes working as a team easier. Ease of use and a large disk space in the cloud are the greatest advantages of this tool."
"I really enjoyed the accessibility provided by Dropbox and how files can be shared within a network. This makes everything a lot easier."
"I love using Dropbox to store files - they are easy to access, safe as they are stored within the cloud and my employees can update documents and files in real-time when working remotely."
Read all DropBox Business reviews here.
4. Notion
To present the most up-to-date information, the product information below shows the latest real-time ratings, which may differ from the ratings values at the time this report's analysis was conducted, since new reviews may have been left in the meantime.
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Highest-rated parameter
Commonly used by
Starting price
Device compatibility
Here are some review excerpts from retail professionals who have used Notion for collaboration:
"What I love most about Notion is its flexibility and customizability. The platform allows me to create personalized workspaces that cater to my specific needs, whether it be for personal or professional use. The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to organize information and collaborate with team members."
"I LOVE how many features there are in Notion; you can truly set up a workplace and task manager for everything. I use Notion mostly for personal life, but have loved integrating it with my student and work life as well. It's flexible, easy to update, and entirely unique to the user."
"When it comes to my work flow, staying organized within my own tasks and within my teams task is instrumental to our success. Notion makes it so easy to have everything you need all in one place without having to have 20 different programs open. It's very intuitive to setup your individual and shared spaces. I'm a big visual person and the way Notion is setup helps you to remember where you saved what. My absolute favourite feature though is the ability to import docs from other applications, it keeps the source formatting and everything the same and takes less than a minute to setup."
5. Slack
To present the most up-to-date information, the product information below shows the latest real-time ratings, which may differ from the ratings values at the time this report's analysis was conducted, since new reviews may have been left in the meantime.
Trial/Free Version
- Free Trial
- Free Version
Highest-rated parameter
Commonly used by
Starting price
Device compatibility
Here are some review excerpts from retail professionals who have used Slack for collaboration:
"Slack is easy to use and integrates with a lot of our other systems. It helps keep everyone connected even when working remotely. The scheduling feature is great, helps everyone to maintain a good work/life balance as you're not messaging your colleagues at all hours of morning/ evening. Being able to create custom emojis has been a game changer and really driven engagement. Having separate channels for different topics keeps our lines of communication clear."
"Great, it has made team communication much organized, easier and allow me to keep written records of important communications."
"Slack is the essential, problem-solving tool for communications in the remote workspace. With a searchable record of conversations, documents and activities, Slack provides a solid way to track your workday. Along with calls, chat, screen sharing and multiple integrations, every team member is always in your reach and in complete harmony."
What features do collaboration tools offer?
An online collaboration tool for professionals in the retail industry offers the following core features:
Communication management: | Enhance team communication and customer interactions within a retail business using tools provided by the software, such as instant messaging, notifications, voice/video calls, and collaborative workspaces. The platform also offers features, such as live chat, feedback, and surveys, to enhance collaboration and overall efficiency in the retail industry. |
File sharing: | Exchange digital files and documents among team members, departments, and external partners, such as customers and suppliers, with ease. The feature allows retailers to upload, share, and store documents, such as product catalogs, sales reports, and policy documents. It also facilitates collaborative editing, allowing multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously. |
All products listed in this report include the features mentioned above. Besides the core features, a team collaboration tool also commonly tends to offer:
Brainstorming
Calendar management
Contact management
Content management
Document management
Mobile access
Real-time editing
Task management
How to choose the right collaboration software for retail
Here are some factors to consider while you look for the best team collaboration software for a retail business:
Prioritize task management capabilities. Monitoring project progress helps retailers keep their goals on track. Consider a collaboration tool that allows retail professionals to create tasks for various purposes, such as visual merchandising and inventory restocking. Your shortlisted tool should also help you assign tasks to specific team members and set deadlines to ensure that critical tasks are timely completed.
Evaluate document management features. The best collaboration app designed for retail professionals helps them organize, store, and share documents related to their retail operations. The software you select should provide a centralized repository for all your retail-related documents, such as sales reports and compliance documents, along with version control, document search, and access control features for easy and secure access to the latest versions of these documents.
Consider analytics and reporting features. Collaboration software for retail should be capable of generating reports on daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly sales summaries. Additionally, it should offer insights into your real-time inventory levels, employee performance, customer feedback, revenue forecasts, and task completion. Before investing in the best team collaboration software, ensure the system also helps you share these reports with team members and external parties.
Common questions to ask software vendors before purchasing collaboration software for retail
Consider asking your vendor the following questions so that you find the best retail collaboration software for your business:
Does the tool integrate with inventory management software?
Retail managers are responsible for tracking inventory levels, monitoring stock, and coordinating with suppliers. Look for retail collaboration software that integrates with inventory management solutions for real-time inventory visibility, efficient order fulfillment, demand forecasting, and vendor collaboration. This integration will help you combine collaboration and inventory data to identify trends, sales patterns, and stock turnover rates.
What are the available communication options?
An ideal collaboration platform should offer multiple features, such as instant messaging, group chats, private messaging, video conferencing, discussion forums, and notifications to help retail managers communicate with their team members. Most tools also offer mobile accessibility to ensure remote team members can communicate and collaborate from their mobile devices.
What are the security features offered by the tool?
Retail managers deal with sensitive data, including customer information and sales data. While evaluating online collaboration tools, consider data security features, such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication (MFA), access controls, and user permissions. Regular data backups and recovery are other important factors that you need to check in a team collaboration tool in case you need to recover lost or corrupted information.