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13.1% of Southland employees work in retail

Copilot training for Southland retailers and wholesalers

Use a checked office task as your starting point. Practise Microsoft 365 assistance around buying, staff communication and product information without losing the source record.

EnquireWhere Copilot helps
Illustration generated with AI.
Employees in retail
6,784Southland, February 2025
Share of Southland employees
13.1%10 of 16 regions
Share across New Zealand
14.3%all regions, February 2025
Location quotient
0.91×close to the national share

Retail in Southland

A buyer can have a supplier amendment in Outlook while the store briefing still shows old product details. In a generic Invercargill retailer exercise, participants ask Copilot to prepare a clarification and a revised staff note. They inspect the source amendment and check that the draft does not promise stock or compatibility that the supplier has not confirmed.

E Hayes' trade and public customer mix and Farmers' local department-store listing show different retail settings within the city. Their published ranges help frame training tasks for specialised enquiries and broad consumer merchandise. We use invented records for the practical lab, rather than claiming access to those employers' systems.2,3

Paid employees in retail went from 6,915 in February 2020 to 6,784 in February 2025 (−1.9%).

Share of paid employees in retail, by region

Share of employees in retail by region, Southland highlighted
RegionChartShareNZ×
Auckland 16.6% 14.3% 1.2×
Canterbury 14.9% 14.3% 1.0×
Tasman 14.7% 14.3% 1.0×
Nelson 14.7% 14.3% 1.0×
Northland 14.1% 14.3% 1.0×
Manawatū-Whanganui 14.0% 14.3% 1.0×
Bay of Plenty 13.5% 14.3% 0.9×
Waikato 13.2% 14.3% 0.9×
Otago 13.1% 14.3% 0.9×
Southland (this page) 13.1% 14.3% 0.9×
Hawke's Bay 13.0% 14.3% 0.9×
Marlborough 12.0% 14.3% 0.8×
West Coast 12.0% 14.3% 0.8×
Taranaki 11.6% 14.3% 0.8×
Gisborne 10.6% 14.3% 0.7×
Wellington 10.4% 14.3% 0.7×

Paid employees at business locations in the region, February 2025. The tick marks the national share. × is the regional share divided by the national share.

Source: Stats NZ, Business Demography Statistics, February 2020 and 2025.

What retail covers in Southland

Divisions in retail, Southland
DivisionChartEmployeesShareNZ×
Wholesale 1,856 3.6% 5.0% 0.7×
Retail 4,928 9.5% 9.3% 1.0×

ANZSIC06 divisions in this industry group: share of the region's paid employees, against New Zealand.

Source: Stats NZ, Business Demography Statistics, February 2020 and 2025.

Local context

  • The regional business plan explicitly includes retail sector challenges. Great South's focus offers context for a modest office pilot with a clearly assigned owner.11
  • E Hayes' website connects its store presence with online shopping, making consistent product information across channels a locally relevant exercise.44

Organisations are named for local context only. No relationship with them is implied.

Towns in Southland

Each town page has its own figures and local brief.

Or see Microsoft Copilot training across Southland.

Where Copilot helps retail teams

  • Review an Excel stock exception list

    Practise with a synthetic workbook where product identifiers, quantities and adjustments occupy separate fields. Ask Copilot for an exception grouping or calculation and inspect the formula ranges. Check an item with a return and a changed unit label. The stock controller should preserve the reviewed workbook alongside any draft explanation.5

    • Inventory administrator
    • Excel Copilot workbook checks

  • Draft a supplier query in Outlook

    Use a mock email about a changed pack size. Request a reply that asks for the missing unit and the applicable item reference. Compare it with the attachment and remove any inferred order change. The buyer approves the query before sending it, and records the supplier's answer where the office keeps product facts.5

    • Purchasing manager
    • Outlook Copilot drafting

  • Prepare a Word staff briefing

    Build a draft briefing from approved product updates and cleared internal notes. Ask Word assistance to separate confirmed facts from questions staff should refer to the specialist. In a fictional Gore trade outlet, include a product that looks similar but has a different stated use. The department lead checks the distinction before circulation.5

    • Department supervisor
    • Copilot in Word briefings

  • Inspect a Teams buying recap

    Hold a simulated range-review meeting in a suitable Teams configuration. Ask for a recap and check whether a possible range change appears as an approved decision. Confirm the follow-up owner with the group, then store only the checked outcome in the buying record. Staff should be able to tell discussion from commitment.5

    • Retail operations lead
    • Teams Copilot meeting recap

  • Test an internal product-reference agent

    Use Studio to build a small lookup prototype over selected supplier references and office procedures. Try an item that is missing from the knowledge set and inspect the response. Keep the prototype internal while reviewers check source links and permissions. Stock availability and customer promises should remain with the store's approved operational records.6

    • Business systems maker
    • Copilot Studio internal agent

Check a product update before staff receive it

  1. Choose the confirmed supplier amendment for a fictional product.
  2. Ask Copilot to draft the change and the outstanding product questions.
  3. Have the buyer verify item references, units and stated use.
  4. Publish the reviewed office briefing through your normal staff channel.

Courses

  1. 1Introductory

    Microsoft Copilot foundations

    A first hands-on session on Copilot Chat and Copilot in Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

  2. 2Organisation

    Copilot rollout and readiness

    Prepare the tenant, choose a pilot, and measure whether people use Copilot well.

  3. 3Advanced

    Copilot Studio agents and advanced Excel

    Build and test a Copilot Studio agent for one internal process, and go further with Copilot in Excel.

Retail in other regions

Other industries in Southland

See Microsoft Copilot for retail and wholesale across New Zealand, or all training in Southland.

Retail in Southland: questions

Is a stock spreadsheet enough to start?

A fictional table with understandable fields is a useful first exercise. The stock owner can then check whether staff understand the calculations and exceptions.

Can wholesale staff join retail colleagues?

Choose separate customer examples within the same session. Trade buyers can test specification questions while retail staff examine the language used at the counter.

What should our administrator prepare?

Verify the training accounts, app functions and a restricted example folder. Microsoft's documentation distinguishes the available Copilot experiences and their capabilities.5

Can you train the team near our shop?

TheColab can deliver in your Southland workplace or a suitable meeting room. Arrange attendance around the store's staffing needs and include a purchasing reviewer.

Train your retail team in Southland

  1. ScopeHeadcount, sites, Microsoft 365 plan and licences, and the teams you want to start with.
  2. PlanWe propose a course, a pilot group and a format, and agree the files and meetings to use.
  3. TrainOn-site or over Teams, in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams, with your own work.
  • In person
  • Remote
  • Half-day workshop
  • Full-day workshop
  • Team rollout

Independent training by TheColab. Not affiliated with Microsoft.

Enquire

Tell us about your team in Southland. We reply by email with a suggested course and format.

We use these details only to reply to you, and store them securely with TheColab. Privacy

Sources

Written 6 October 2026. Employment figures come from Stats NZ Business Demography Statistics.