The Vitamin Shoppe CEO Sharon M. Leite hardly seems to need an energy boost, but she hits The Vitamin Shoppe anyway. The catch? Leite’s in uniform and in disguise, looking for clues to bigger company growth that may be hidden in the retail experience and customer interactions. She turns out to be just the kind of boss you want.
Yup, it’s another sneaky peek brought to your living room courtesy of the frequently fascinating CBS juggernaut Undercover Boss, now in season 11.
CEO Leite’s got a very personal interest in how the stores are looking and running– she created some of the operational changes she now gets to see up close. But one aspect of retail that’s increasingly familiar to any shopper these days hits Leite hard: EMPTY SHELVES.
“It’s so important to be in stock in our business,” she says, “because if we don’t have the products on the shelves, the customer will just go somewhere else.”
The customers might also go somewhere else if they don’t get the kind of customer service and expertise they need. In the clip below, Leite is humbled by the breadth and complexity of the information she needs to possess in order to be a good retail worker.
She keeps asking for help, confessing she is “overwhelmed.” Boldly owning up to her shortcomings on the retail floor, Leite reveals, “I struggled because I didn’t have all the product knowledge I need to have.”
But remember what her employee said when she first arrived? “In retail, you’re kind of expected to do things you never had to do before.” That’s where Leite excels, having guided The Vitamin Shoppe over some rough water and into the digital frontier.
That kind of initiative comes from being open-minded and clear-sighted. And while Leite’s experience in window washing isn’t verifiable (see below), it’s fairly certain it’s not part of her current CEO job description! Still it’s now like she’d frown about it. She obviously takes a smile vitamin, too.
As the very dynamic Leite explains, the mission of The Vitamin Shoppe’s business is “about truly making a difference in people’s lives.” The Vitamin Shoppe was founded way back in 1977, growing steadily until it hit the retail bumps that affect all companies late to adapt to digital and online.
But remember what her colleague said as they washed the windows? You’re “expected to do things you never had to do before.” Leite is a CEO who saw that what needed doing was online, and she set about to make the changes needed. Now she just needs to make sure the shelves were full! Undercover Boss airs on CBS on Fridays at 8 pm.
