Going by the fast-changing dynamics of the retail industry, employees will have to keep pace with emerging skills and technologies. A good training method ensures customer service improvement in sales, and ultimately improved operation efficiency. In 2025, retailers are using advanced training techniques, such as AI-trained learning, virtual reality simulations, and gamified experiences, to enhance staff expertise and talent acquisition. Companies that opt for newer training methodologies end up performing better than their competition. For professionals seeking cutting-edge training solutions, London premier hub of training and consulting, offering expert-led programmes tailored to the dynamic retail landscape.

What Is an Employee Training Method?

Employee training methods encompass a variety of approaches and techniques aimed at developing employees’ skills, knowledge, and competencies. The ultimate objectives of these methods are to develop and improve performance, enhance efficiency, and facilitate career advancement in the organization.

Employee training methods combine a menu of diverse learning and development strategies, from old-fashioned classrooms to brand new technology. The chosen method depends on the nature of the content, the learning objectives, the audience or learner group predispositions, resources available for training, and the goals of the organisation. 

10 retail employees training methods in 2025

Here’s a list of the most familiar retail employee training methods from which organisations can choose based on their requirements and goals.

1. e-Learning

When the corporate world adopted hybrid work, eLearning turned out to be the most approved and acknowledged employee training method for the organisations. eLearning or simply e-learning means delivering all training content through an online platform. It often includes multimedia components like videos, quizzes, interactive modules, and downloadable resources. This allows learners to access the material any time they wish and thus self-paced training.

Modern organisations leverage corporate learning management systems (LMS) to create online training courses, manage learning content, distribute training, and assess performance. eLearning works best for compliance training that must be done, onboarding new employees, and knowledge-based training where the content has to be the same for every single person being trained. 

2. Instructor led learning

Instructor-led training can be defined as the evergreen kind of training wherein training content is led by an instructor or subject matter expert, either in person or through web conferencing. Instructor-led training is often synonymous with face-to-face training conducted in a classroom or workshop, or alternatively via online training conducted through webinars. Built-in interactions, discussions, and real-time question answering sessions are intrinsic to ILT. It suits well for leadership training, regulatory compliance, training of technical skills, and team-building exercises.

3. Role-playing learning

Role-playing is a highly interactive training technique where employees act out scenarios they might encounter. It’s about developing soft skills such as communication, conflict resolution, and making decisions by placing employees in real-life situations to practice responses. Role-playing is ideal for sales, customer service training, call center training, leadership training, conflict resolution, negotiation, and teamwork skills.

4. Coaching

Job coaching is when a trainer, such as a supervisor, mentor, or experienced coworker, trains an employee on task or job responsibilities. This is used in an on-job learning method and can be used in-person or virtually by using coaching software, so it is very useful for both an office and remote workforce. It is also very suitable for leadership development, employee development, performance improvement, and succession planning.

5. Collaborative training

Collaborative training is learning as a part of working together with others in a team or through shared experiences. Employees would work together by discussing ideas, solving problems, or completing tasks. Providing a collaborative learning environment encourages students to share knowledge and learn from one another. Thus, it can be applied in exercises for team building, innovation workshops, problem-solving, and brainstorming sessions.

6. Cross-training

Cross-training is a training method whereby an employee is expected to acquire knowledge or skills about how another employee performs his or her job while continuing to perform the job for which he was hired. The aim of this approach is to sharpen the skills of the employees, thereby creating a more flexible resource for the organisation.

Apart from the fact that they will now be more skilled, they will also get encouraged to explore their opportunities in different arms of the organisation, improving and driving the internal mobility agenda. Cross-training is especially ideal for manufacturing, retail, customer service, and team-based environments.

7. Case Study

The case study method is where an employee is given a complex problem or issue, either real or fictitious, to deliberate on or use as a reference for solutions. Cases range from the very simple to the extremely complex, and trainees must be supplied with sufficient data and information for the situation to be analyzed and solutions articulated. Case studies are appropriate in leadership training, strategy creation, and problem-solving exercise applications.

8. Peer-to-peer learning

A peer-to-peer learning programme is a mutual learning method where participants of the same level engage in collaborative learning. In this manner, coworkers are allowed time to work through new concepts together and share ideas on the very same undertaking.

The opportunity to teach and be taught by one another is one really powerful way for organisations to fortify employees into productive cooperative workers. Peer-to-peer learning is best suited for transferring knowledge, enhancing teams, and improving communication.

9. Mobile learning

Mobile learning (or mLearning) is all about online learning being done through a personal mobile device such as a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. This training method encourages learning on the go, meaning users can access content anytime or anywhere they need. Mobile learning is certainly the training method for employees in remote teams, field workers, sales teams, and all those whose learning has to happen on the go. 

10. Adaptive learning

Adaptive learning utilises artificial intelligence or data analytics in delivering personalized learning experiences. The system customizes content, difficulty, and pace of learning based upon the individual performance, learning style, and progress. Adaptive learning is best suited for continuous professional development, technical training, compliance, and bespoke learning needs.

Factors to Consider While Choosing the Right Training Method

Let us take a look for a few factors to consider on selecting the best employee training methods suitable for your learning use case:

1. Learning objectives: Uncover what are those specific goals of that training. Is the training one on technical skill, soft skill, compliance, or leadership development? Different training methods apply to different learning objectives (e.g. simulators for technical skills; coaching for leadership development, etc.).
2. Learner preferences: Consider your learners´ demographics and preferences. Younger employees may prefer digital or mobile training, while others may gain greater benefits from classroom or instructor-led training. The VARK method might be helpful for ensuring that the chosen training methods correlate to the preferred learning styles of various employees. 
3. Accessibility and availability: Look at the logistics of delivering the training, including the where and when of training delivery. Be very sure that your intended training method is accessible to all of your employees. This may include captioning video training, ensuring that mobile content is screen reader compatible, and possibly providing alternate learning formats. 
4. Costs and resources: Different training methods will vary in costs. A number of them, such as eLearning or mobile learning, may even require investment in technology and content development. Others, such as instructor-led training, would bring into play costs incurred in hiring the trainers and renting the physical space. Weigh your organisational budgets on the one side and resource availability on the other and choose a method that fits your financial capabilities.