evo Teams up with Pixvana to Create Scalable Onboarding for Seasonal Workers Through Interactive XR Training

Innovative XR project optimizes first day success, while freeing up top leadership

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Pixvana, an XR platform and solutions provider specializing in corporate learning and training, and evo, a leading retailer of action sports lifestyle gear, today announced that they have partnered to create an interactive XR training experience to better onboard seasonal warehouse workers at their 170,000 square foot warehouse.

While the evo warehouse maintains a full-time staff of 50 people to support daily operations throughout the year, in the days leading up to Black Friday the company’s headcount triples. During this period evo will ship over 15,000 orders per day, up from a daily average of 750 orders. The company worked with Pixvana to develop a training experience that could easily scale for groups of any size – and that’s highly effective at helping new employees establish core competencies.

The XR employee orientation is hosted by Jeff Covert, Distribution Center Manager. After providing an overview of the company and reviewing onboarding details, the viewer then “job shadows” expert Rosie Pauu, Outbound Lead. Through interactive 360° video and an AR component, new warehouse employees orient themselves to the space and learn critical process training. The experience provides a sense of presence, so when new employees walk into the facility for the first time it feels like they have been there before and that they are already familiar with tasks that need to be performed. The training saves company supervisors time, streamlining an otherwise redundant training process and freeing up top performers to do their job. The training module also ensures each new employee receives an orientation directly from the warehouse lead themselves, that the learning material is consistent and efficient, and that employees are engaged throughout the entire process.

“After going through the XR training, I felt much more prepared and ready to pick and ship,” said Ashley Miller of evo. “After taking the headset off and entering the warehouse for the first time I felt like I’d been there before and was much more comfortable with my surroundings. I knew how to navigate the floor and what to do with my RF Scanner immediately and didn’t have to ask my supervisor many follow up questions.”

Innovative companies everywhere are using Extended Reality (XR) to rapidly and effectively onboard frontline workers. Many Fortune 500 companies, including Boeing, UPS and Walmart, currently use Virtual Reality to support worker education and training programs. Similarly, small and midsize businesses have also embraced virtual onboarding programs. According to Capterra, one out of every three SMBs in the U.S. will be piloting VR employee training programs by 2021 and seeing their new hires reach full productivity 50 percent faster as a result.

“XR training offers the potential to do many things in addition to getting workers ready to have a productive first day on the floor,” said Spencer Earle, Director of Operations and Technology for evo. “Our HR department is excited to do some empathy training, and our customer service and retail teams can get consistent training on how to engage with an unhappy customer. Also, since we have multiple store locations, XR allows our employees to visit these locations and really get a feel for what evo is all about.”

Organizations of all sizes often struggle to scale consistent and effective employee training. Traditional classroom learning techniques have proven ineffective in many cases, with a majority of workers reporting a lack of interest and retention. Research has shown that experiential learning can boost interest and increase retention by 75-90 percent.

To experience a sample of the XR evo training powered Pixvana SPIN Studio, visit https://bit.ly/2rGQEk9

About Pixvana

Pixvana, an XR solutions provider, helps enterprises develop cutting-edge approaches to solve business challenges in innovative ways. Customers choose Pixvana for its powerhouse combination of breakthrough VR technology and award-winning creative team. Pixvana addresses a range of corporate VR applications – from training and tours, to marketing and healthcare – and can manage all aspects of project development, from strategy to execution. The company is venture-backed by Vulcan Capital, Madrona Venture Group, Microsoft, Cisco, Raine and Hearst Ventures. Pixvana’s founders have proven startup success in media technology, and hail from senior product and engineering leadership roles at Apple, Adobe, Microsoft, and Lucasfilm. For more information visit www.pixvana.com.

About evo

evo is an innovative action sports and outdoor lifestyle retailer with roots in the Pacific Northwest. The company’s focus on community and crafting extraordinary customer experiences has propelled it from its humble beginnings in a small Seattle apartment to one of the fastest-growing lifestyle retailers in the nation. Over 17 years, evo has grown from its strong online presence to open flagship stores in Seattle, Portland and Denver, continuing with the extension of its global reach into Whistler, BC. All locations proudly showcase evo’s trademark blend of sport, culture, art, retail and service. Through evoTrip, customers can experience the evo lifestyle of sport and culture through destination travel to ski, snowboard, surf, or mountain bike remote wonders around the world. Leveraging our success to give back, evo helps underserved youth through volunteer time, donations and other support for local and national non-profit organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters, SOS Outreach and Chill Foundation. For more information about evo and its programs, please visit evo.com.

Contacts

Jeff Pecor

Tailwind Public Relations, LLC

jeff@tailwindpr.com
206.948.1482