Warehouse chief executive Mark Powell said the plan was a key part of the company's strategy to make retail a more attractive career.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Max Mason said small retailers may be threatened by The Warehouse's pay plan as the big company had always been perceived as a serious threat to smaller stores. "However, on the positive side the Warehouse doesn't do anything without a good reason so it's worthwhile taking notice that if they are prepared to pay higher wages for long-term staff who have undergone a comprehensive training programme, then that's a good investment."
The same principle applied to smaller retailers, he said.
Retail Association of New Zealand chief executive John Albertson said the tension between physical retail outlets and online stores was highlighting the need for good staff, he said.
"The key is that the physical store is going to require better-informed people, they're going to require better skilled staff so the emphasis on training of retail staff is going to become more and more important and I think if you're going to invest in people then you want to make sure you keep them a long time."
Dave Gillies, who employs more than 100 people at his 12 Z stations throughout the Bay, said he has always paid his staff above the minimum wage.
Paying above the minimum was one way of attracting and valuing good staff, and helped reduce staff turnover which was more expensive than paying decent wages, he said.
Mr Gillies said staff could be encouraged to make a career out of retail if the employer had the right attitude.
"To us we're not in retail, we're in the business of developing people and that's the sort of talk we use with our people at our stations," he said.
"They're not just gas attendants, they're much, much more than that, they're there to create an experience for our customers and feel good about it."
