Dr. Martens’ Secret to Scaling Performance Across 140+ Stores

“StoreForce is constantly used and store managers feel that it is vital to their operations. It's the dashboard on the shop floor, it's a coaching tool, and it's how teams understand performance, identify opportunities and improve in the moment.” - Josh Coleman, Retail Lead for DTC Acceleration Initiatives, Dr. Martens

Key takeaways

• StoreForce became the daily operating platform for more than 140 Dr. Martens stores globally.

• Automated scheduling and workforce planning replaced manual processes and created consistency across markets.

• StoreForce helped improve conversion, productivity, labor efficiency and store execution by ensuring the right people were scheduled at the right times.

• The platform is embedded across store operations, leadership reviews, commercial meetings, coaching, and performance management.

Background

Dr. Martens is one of the world's most iconic footwear brands, operating more than 140 stores globally and serving customers across generations of culture, music, fashion, and self-expression.

As the business expanded internationally and accelerated its direct-to-consumer strategy, maintaining consistency across stores became increasingly important. Workforce planning, scheduling, reporting, and performance tracking relied on multiple systems and manual processes, creating inefficiencies and inconsistent ways of working across regions.

To support continued growth while improving operational excellence, Dr. Martens partnered with StoreForce to create a more consistent, data-driven approach to managing store performance.

StoreForce became the operational heartbeat of more than 140 stores

The greatest measure of success for Dr. Martens was not simply deploying StoreForce, but embedding it into everyday operations.

Today, StoreForce serves as the primary performance dashboard for store teams, managers, regional leaders, and support functions. Teams use the platform throughout the day to monitor results, track individual performance, identify opportunities, and make decisions in real time.

What began as a workforce management solution has evolved into a core operating platform that supports performance management, coaching, decision-making, and store execution across the business.

Consistent scheduling replaced manual planning across every market

Before StoreForce, scheduling, reporting, and performance analysis required significant manual effort. Data was pulled from multiple systems, conversion metrics were calculated separately, and managers often approached planning in different ways.

StoreForce created a single, standardized framework for workforce planning and store performance management.

Managers gained access to real-time performance data, scheduling became more closely aligned with business performance, and stores were better equipped to align staffing with customer demand. The result was greater consistency, faster decision-making, and a stronger foundation for delivering exceptional customer experiences.

A rollout strategy focused on adoption delivered lasting results

Dr. Martens recognized that technology only creates value when teams fully embrace it.

To ensure long-term success, the business worked closely with StoreForce to create a rollout strategy built around engagement, training, and local ownership. StoreForce champions were appointed across markets to provide support, answer questions, and reinforce best practices.

The business also conducted in-person training sessions throughout Europe, helping managers understand both the functionality of the platform and the business value it could deliver.

This investment in adoption helped StoreForce become a fundamental part of store operations rather than simply another technology platform.

Better labor decisions improved conversion, productivity and efficiency

StoreForce helped Dr. Martens connect workforce planning directly to business performance.

By giving managers greater visibility into staffing, performance, and customer demand, the business was able to improve labor efficiency while supporting stronger store execution.

Automated scheduling reduced administrative workload, leadership teams gained faster access to actionable insights, and managers were able to spend more time coaching teams and serving customers.

The platform now supports weekly business reviews, planning sessions, performance discussions, and operational decision-making across multiple departments, creating a single source of truth for store performance.

StoreForce continues to support future growth

As Dr. Martens continues to expand globally, StoreForce remains a key partner in helping the business evolve its retail operations.

Regular business reviews, ongoing collaboration, and continuous feedback ensure the platform continues to support changing business needs. Equally important, StoreForce's retail expertise allows the team to quickly understand challenges, share proven approaches, and help identify opportunities for improvement.

The result is a partnership focused not only on today's operational needs, but also on preparing the business for future growth.

In Dr. Martens’ own words…

“StoreForce has become a fundamental part of how we operate our stores. It's constantly used across the business, from the shop floor to leadership teams, helping us understand performance, identify opportunities, and make improvements in real time.

The rollout was critical to our success. By investing in training, creating StoreForce champions across our markets, and making the platform part of everyday operations, we achieved strong adoption and long-term engagement.

StoreForce has helped us create greater consistency across our stores, improve workforce planning, support stronger conversion, and make better decisions through real-time visibility into performance.

I would absolutely recommend StoreForce to other retailers. The team understands retail, takes feedback seriously, and works closely with us to find solutions. Through regular business reviews, ongoing collaboration, and a shared focus on continuous improvement, we've built a partnership that helps us improve performance today while preparing the business for future growth.” - Barry Loughran, EMEA Retail Operations Manager and Josh Coleman, Retail Lead for DTC Acceleration Initiatives

Connect with StoreForce today

If you want the same consistency, visibility, productivity gains, and operational control that Dr. Martens has achieved, it's time to see StoreForce in action. Whether you're looking to improve scheduling, increase conversion, strengthen coaching, or create greater consistency across your stores, StoreForce gives retail teams the tools they need to connect labor decisions directly to business results. Book a demo today and discover what better workforce management can deliver for your business.