Harmons Grocery | 20% lift in completions through AI-powered frontline training

Harmons Grocery, a family-owned grocer known for locally sourced produce, made-from-scratch items, and a deep commitment to quality and customer service, found that its legacy training systems weren't keeping pace with footprint expansion plans. 

With growing pressure to streamline content delivery, and ensure consistent, high-quality training across specialty departments and countless frontline associates, Harmons needed to replace their existing LMS with a more agile solution that enabled them to systematize training and improve its impact.

The ideal tool? One that was fast, flexible, and fit seamlessly into their existing tech ecosystem. Enter eduMe. Since adopting eduMe, Harmons has:

• Achieved a 20% higher training completion rate than benchmark

• Earned an 88% positive learner sentiment

• Cut content launch times from weeks to days, thanks to eduMe AI

• Brought more targeted, engaging learning to previously hard-to-reach teams

Harmons Challenge

As Harmons continued to grow, so did the complexity of training its frontline.

The company’s existing LMS was no longer fit for purpose. The slower paced content creation and roll out process was proving to be out of sync with operational needs - especially when launching new products  or capturing processes specific to the business. 

The sheer number of associates we need to reach, combined with an LMS designed for desktop use, created a major challenge. It made it difficult to keep training materials up to date and consistent, and didn't always work in harmony with operations.

And while Harmons frontline team was dedicated and detail-oriented, reaching associates consistently across more than 20 locations remained a challenge.

The goal was clear: replace their LMS with a system that could deliver rich, localized training at speed, and was in sync with Dayforce - the company's HRIS and people data platform. The new platform needed to support faster training rollout, smarter training distribution, and most of all - resonate with their employee base.

eduMe’s Solution

In eduMe, Harmons found a training platform designed for agility, relevance, and results.

eduMe enabled Harmons to overcome several critical blockers. Having a  Dayforce integration, eduMe supported a two-way sync of essential workforce data  such as department, store number, and position, allowing the company to segment and personalize training - by individual or group - effortlessly.

Reaching hard-to-access teams - like those in the kitchen - also became easier. Training was distributed directly via Dayforce, supported by SMS notifications, email, and in-person manager prompts during shift starts and huddles. 

In addition, eduMe's robust suite of AI tools lightened the load on training managers by enabling them to instantly upcycle existing training, through features like AI file-to-lesson conversion, as well as multi-language translation, to support Spanish-speaking workers. This allowed the company to side-step lengthy translation projects while still meeting their workforce with knowledge in a preferred language. 

eduMe's mobile-first approach, focus on frontline and AI content creation presented a compelling solution to our roadblocks.

Focused initially on production and process content - such as preparation procedures and new product rollouts - Harmons was able to quickly build and deliver short-form, high-impact lessons that made training more engaging and empowered the company to continuously upskill a distributed workforce. 

Insights from 300+ of your peers

Read what 300+ retail + hospitality leaders are doing about staff shortages, poor CX and inaccessible training.

Get your copy

Harmons Strategy for Impactful Training at Scale

A commitment to testing, combined with multi-channel distribution  

Rather than relying on a single channel, Harmons deployed a layered distribution strategy to ensure training reached every associate, wherever they worked. Dayforce - a trusted destination for companywide communication - became a central hub for training access, while SMS and email provided secondary routes, with SMS proving particularly effective. 

eduMe's multi-channel delivery capabilities inspired the possibility of new unique solutions to training. 

Harmons customized SMS messaging to boost click-through rates and experimented with send times. This digital strategy was supported by in-person reinforcement: managers introduced eduMe during daily huddles, encouraging uptake and creating space for questions. Together, this multi-touch approach created visibility, accessibility, and momentum behind each lesson launch.

Content that spoke to users

Rather than defaulting to generic off-the-shelf modules, Harmons took a people-powered approach to content creation. They brought influential frontline employees into the development process, allowing them to shape and feature in lesson content.

Associates have been excited to see their peers involved in creating and producing training materials.

This bottom-up strategy ensured training felt authentic, practical, and locally relevant - not top-down or abstract. Lessons combined video demonstrations with screen recordings and step-by-step instructions, resulting in engaging, digestible formats tailored to the real needs of store and kitchen staff. With eduMe’s Smart Teams capability, Harmons could  route lessons to the right learners based on real-time data from Dayforce, ensuring content was always relevant and role-specific.

Integration into daily workflows

Harmons success wasn’t just about building great content - it was about embedding training into the rhythm of work. By incorporating eduMe into morning huddles and shift starts, training became a daily habit rather than a one-off event.

The short, tappable nature of eduMe lessons meant teams could consume learning without needing to step away from the floor. This frictionless delivery model respected the realities of a fast-paced retail environment, while increasing training visibility and uptake.

AI as a catalyst for speed and scale

eduMe AI became an accelerant across multiple points in Harmons training lifecycle. Instead of relying on traditional course development timelines, the L&D team used eduMe’s file-to-lesson tool to instantly transform existing material  into mobile-friendly training.

eduMe's easy-to-use interface and AI tools for creation, translation and up cycling existing content have helped us to be agile and efficient, reducing instructional design workload.

The result was faster content creation and fewer bottlenecks. AI also addressed Harmons long-standing localization needs. When training needed to be delivered in Spanish, eduMe AI generated accurate, natural translations of existing English lessons - without the delay or cost of outsourced translation. These time savings allowed Harmons to iterate faster, respond to emerging needs more effectively, and unlock more value from existing materials.

The Results

Harmons saw immediate improvements in both learner engagement and operational efficiency.

Training completion rates rose 20% above benchmark, a significant gain that validated their multi-channel strategy and user-friendly format. Employees reported overwhelmingly positive feedback, with 88% expressing satisfaction with the new training approach -  a reflection of both the relevance of the content and the convenience of access.

The results so far have been very encouraging. Engagement continues to grow and associates have provided overwhelmingly positive feedback.

Crucially, eduMe allowed Harmons to move at the speed of business. Training that once took weeks to deploy could now be launched in minimal time, allowing the company to stay responsive to new product rollouts, process updates, and seasonal shifts. 

By embedding short-form learning naturally into the everyday experience of their associates, empowering team members to co-create content, and using AI to move faster without sacrificing quality, Harmons set a new standard for frontline training in grocery retail.

And with eduMe as a long-term partner, their workforce is better equipped than ever to deliver the fresh, high-quality service the Harmons name is known for.

Experience eduMe in <60 seconds

No credit card required. No software to install. Just a hands-on preview of how frontline teams learn with eduMe.

Try for free