Peak season has a way of turning “a normal week” into a constant stream of little fires: availability changes, sick calls, shift swaps, and that one last-minute update that somehow breaks three other things. Even outside peak, it can feel like the schedule is never really finished; just temporarily quiet. Below are three quick stories (each a two-minute read) inspired by what we see in retail, restaurant franchises, and recreation teams. You’ll see what changed, what the results looked like, and which small decisions made the biggest difference. If any of these feel familiar, you’ll know exactly what to try next.
Story #1: Retail team (2–25 staff) 👉 “we cut roster planning time by 50%”
For retail teams, chaos often comes from two places: time-consuming schedules and the back-and-forth needed to get clear reporting and answers.
At Blokker, scheduling and reporting were possible in their previous system, but it came with friction:
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Pulling the right reports wasn’t easy, so it took extra coordination to get insight into the numbers
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Rosters were often still shared on paper at store level, which created questions and confusion for employees
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Managers and leads spent unnecessary time on manual follow-up instead of running the floor
What they changed
They switched to Shiftbase to make planning and reporting more independent and less manual:
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Store leadership could run reports themselves (no dependency on external support to get insights)
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Rosters became fully digital, so planning and communication moved into one clear flow
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Employees got clarity via the app instead of relying on paper schedules in the store
Story #2: Restaurant franchise (1000+ employees) 👉 “rosters became 4× faster across locations”
For restaurant franchises, the biggest scheduling stress isn’t making a roster; it’s keeping availability, changes, and payroll data consistent across multiple locations.
Before Shiftbase, New York Pizza locations were dealing with a familiar franchise challenge:
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Availability was tracked manually, often via WhatsApp, which was time-consuming and easy to lose track of
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The process lacked clear overview, making scheduling more error-prone
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Franchisees needed a more efficient, digital way to plan and manage teams across stores
What they changed
They digitised the planning flow so franchisees could manage schedules and staff actions in one place:
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Shiftbase became the preferred supplier for personnel planning at New York Pizza (from August 2024)
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Availability and planning moved out of manual channels into a structured workflow
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Employees could access rosters in the app, request leave, swap shifts, and view worked hours
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Onboarding became more streamlined via payroll software integration (Nmbrs → Shiftbase invite + data flow)
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Franchisees could bundle key management data through an integration with S4D (used by New York Pizza locations)
Story #3: Recreation team (25–50 staff) 👉 “from Excel chaos to calm, app-based clarity”
For recreation teams with flexible rosters, the stress usually isn’t one big problem; it’s a mix of Excel files, email threads, and last-minute questions that keep coming back.
At Vakantiepark Delftse Hout, planning used to live in a combination of Excel and loose emails, which made things harder than they needed to be. They describe the old setup as unclear and messy, especially for a location with changing shifts.
What they changed
They moved key scheduling workflows into Shiftbase so everything sat in one place:
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Employees could see their roster, share availability, and request vacation directly in the app (instead of emailing back and forth).
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They also started using Shiftbase’s clock-in system, reducing the need for manual hour tracking and speeding up admin processing.
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As a bonus, they highlighted fast, reachable support as part of what made the transition feel manageable.
What these teams have in common
Different sizes, same principle: structure reduces stress.
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Deadlines + simple rules prevent chaos. When everyone knows when schedules are “locked” (and how swaps work), you stop managing surprises all week.
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Coverage blocks make gaps obvious early. Planning coverage first (before names) turns “panic staffing” into a quick puzzle you can solve ahead of time.
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Triggers catch overtime before it spreads. A clear signal (hours threshold / risk list) beats discovering the damage after payroll week.
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One workflow keeps changes from becoming emergencies. When requests, availability, and updates live in one place, the day stays calmer, even when things change.
Want the same calm without starting over?
The common thread in all three stories is simple: when scheduling lives in one clear system, the week gets quieter. Shiftbase helps you bring that structure back 👉 with tools to centralise availability, build schedules faster, handle changes with less back-and-forth, and keep hours and time tracking cleaner when it matters most.
If you want to see what that looks like for your team, you can try Shiftbase free for 14 days and set up a calmer scheduling flow before the next busy period hits.
