RESEARCH: How the Right Retail Managers Can 2X Store Productivity

What if the biggest factor in your store’s success wasn’t location, product assortment, or even foot traffic — but the person running it?

Research from the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago analyzed two major retail chains and found that individual store managers account for 25-35% of productivity differences between locations.

The study tracked manager transfers across stores, isolating their direct impact on performance.

The findings make one thing clear: A great manager can transform a store, while a weak one can quietly drain its potential.

Let’s break down the findings — and what they mean for the future of retail leadership.

Finding #1: Great Managers Can 2X Store Productivity — But Most Retailers Aren’t Measuring It

The study found that swapping a low-performing manager (bottom 10%) for a high-performing one (top 10%) increases store productivity by 50-100%.

That’s the equivalent of adding an extra full-time employee — without hiring anyone.

The Problem

Despite this, many retailers don’t have systems in place to measure individual manager impact. Instead, they rely on broad store-level performance metrics that fail to isolate how much of a store’s success — or struggles — comes down to the person leading it.

As a result:

• Many companies promote managers based on tenure, assuming experience equates to effectiveness.
• High performers aren’t recognized or rewarded consistently, leading to disengagement and attrition.
• Retailers lack structured systems to track how much a manager contributes to store-level KPIs.

What Retailers Should Be Doing

To truly understand managerial impact, retailers need better tracking systems and data-driven evaluation methods. That means shifting from subjective decision-making to performance-based leadership development.

• Track execution, engagement, and productivity data to assess managerial impact beyond just top-line sales.
• Identify high-impact managers using objective metrics — not just instinct or tenure.
• Recognize and reward performance based on store-level results, ensuring that top performers stay engaged and motivated.
  
  
  

Finding #2: Retailers are Misplacing Their Best Managers — and Leaving Sales on the Table

One of the study’s most surprising insights? High-performing managers are often placed in struggling stores. This makes sense at first glance — companies want strong leaders to turn around weak locations. 

However, the research suggests that this reactive approach overlooks a major opportunity: If retailers placed top managers in already-successful stores, they could see company-wide sales increase by 2-6%.

The Problem

While placing strong leaders in low-performing stores can help stabilize them, it often prevents top managers from achieving their full potential. Retailers spend time fixing underperforming locations while missing out on compounding gains in high-performing stores.

As a result:

• Many retailers assign managers reactively rather than strategically.
• There is too much focus on damage control instead of performance maximization.
• Few companies have a data-driven framework to measure and predict manager impact across multiple stores.

What Retailers Should Be Doing

To optimize business performance, retailers need to rethink how they deploy their best talent.

• Use performance data to guide manager placement, not just gut instinct.
• Balance turnaround strategies with growth opportunities for high-performing locations.
• Develop a proactive leadership pipeline to ensure managers are placed where they can drive the greatest impact.

Finding #3: A Great Manager Does More Than Sell — They Build Stronger, More Resilient Stores

The study found that manager quality doesn’t just impact sales — it drives broader operational efficiencies.

For example:

• High-performing managers lead more productive teams, improving labor efficiency without increasing headcount.
• They also drive higher energy efficiency, cutting costs without sacrificing performance.
• Managers who performed well pre-COVID also outperformed during the crisis, proving that strong leadership creates long-term resilience.

The Problem

Retailers often see sales as the primary measure of success, but they underestimate how much great managers improve efficiency, morale, and crisis preparedness. When companies fail to recognize these factors, they:

• Underinvest in leadership training, assuming management skills develop naturally over time.
• Fail to equip managers with the right tools and insights to improve performance.
• Overlook succession planning, leading to talent gaps when top managers leave.

What Retailers Should Be Doing

To build resilient, high-performing teams, retailers must prioritize manager development and empowerment.

• Develop structured leadership training programs focused on operational excellence, team engagement, and crisis management.
• Equip managers with AI-driven insights to help them optimize execution and coach their teams in real time.
• Create knowledge-sharing systems where top managers mentor others, scaling best practices across multiple stores.
  
  

How to Turn Insights into Action

The research is clear: Managers can make or break store performance. Retailers need to track, support, and empower their frontline leaders to maximize store performance.

What top retailers are doing differently:

1. Measuring manager impact, not just store performance.
2. Using data — not tenure — to guide leadership decisions.
3. Investing in tools that empower managers to lead more effectively.
   
   

Unlock the Full Potential of Your Store Managers with YOOBIC

Great managers don’t just drive sales — they create more productive teams, stronger store operations, and higher employee engagement. But without the right tools, even the best leaders can struggle to reach their full potential.

YOOBIC helps retailers track, support, and empower store managers with AI-driven insights, real-time execution tools, and mobile-first training — so they can lead more effectively and maximize store performance.

With YOOBIC, retailers can:

• Measure manager effectiveness in real time by tracking execution, engagement, and performance across stores.
• Digitize store visits and task execution to improve consistency and efficiency.
• Provide AI-driven insights to help managers make smarter decisions and coach their teams more effectively.
• Equip managers with mobile-first training so they can upskill in real time, directly on the shop floor.
• Streamline communication across stores so managers stay informed and aligned with company goals.
• Boost employee engagement and retention by enabling managers to recognize and motivate their teams.
  
  

Ready to see how YOOBIC drives results for top retailers like Michaels, Mattress Firm, Ralph Lauren, Pilot Flying J, and Lidl?

Attend one of our 20-minute interactive live demos. No slides, no sales pitch — just real solutions for real challenges.