News

16 March 2007 - Leading convenience organisation uses MKM's virtual academy framework to give members new and improved Retail Detail

Retail Detail, the popular retail training system we developed for the Retail Academy, has just got even better.

The UK’s leading convenience organisation, ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores) is all set to give its members access to the new and improved Retail Detail package—complete with extra features and MyKnowledgeMap’s virtual academy framework—for free until the end of the year. Hugh Arnott, Retail Services Manager at ACS said: “This is an incredible deal for our members and we are delighted to be able to demonstrate our continuous work for the sector. We hope that all those who have access to the internet sign up and have a look – there’s nothing to lose and an awful lot to gain… retailers have a comprehensive package to cover their legal, personnel, initial training and health and safety obligations - sector specific advice and support at the right price.”

Retail Detail has been helping retailers all over the country manage skills and development within their business since launching in September 2005. The easy-to-use system has enabled retailers of all sizes—from local shop-owners to large retail organisations—to develop training strategies for their business and monitor their employees’ progression through an online collaborative training environment.

Thanks to the inclusion of MyKnowledgeMap’s academy framework, the new and improved Retail Detail offers retailers an even more flexible training environment than available previously. Users can add bespoke e-learning courses and optional extras such as the Induction Manager, Compliance Manager and Workshop Manager to the system as well as setting up their own organisational structure—adding in regions, branches, stores and departments to make Retail Detail as relevant and efficient as it can be for their own organisation.

With ACS representing 32,000 neighbourhood stores and community retailers throughout the UK, who between them employ over 300,000 members of staff, the new and improved Retail Detail will have a wide outreach across the retail sector. Many ACS members who may not have had the time or the inclination to engage with technology before will be using the online training system to access advice, training and reference materials that will bring a real boost to their convenience store.

The vast uptake of this online training system on such a scale provides a unique and exciting opportunity for MyKnowledgeMap to reach a large audience within the field of work-based learning. Our involvement in the project serves as proof that our innovative infrastructures are helping learning technology to expand into areas that may not have been open to it in the past.