BJ'S WHOLESALE CLUB HOLDINGS, INC. The platform, deployed in the wholesaler's 244 stores, is designed specifically for the unique footprint and product assortment in a warehouse club environment. It's an environment with rapidly changing inventory, high racks and a constant flow of pallets which makes manual stock and price checks challenging.
Simbe has partnered with more than a dozen of the top 250 global grocers and retailers, but the BJ's deployment is Simbe's first foray into the club environment. Following the successful rollout with BJ's, Simbe launched its large-format retail solution to the wider market in January, according to
How it all works
The platform uses computer vision and AI-enabled shelf analytics captured by an autonomous robot called Tally to allow BJ's to analyze products and price tags on even the tallest shelves to determine inventory stock as well as identify open storage areas where new inventory can be placed.
Simbe's platform's "pick path" optimization lets store teams fulfill online orders efficiently by generating the most efficient pick path for each unique order, which reduces fulfillment times by up to 50% across its customer base.
Tally roams aisles, and the entire store footprint, several times during the day, using a suite of sensors, working right alongside consumers and store associates.
The system scans shoppable areas to audit whether products are in-stock, percentage filled, or need re-stocking. Simbe's pallet detection and depth data capabilities also scan upper steel inventory for re-stocking, track time-in-steel for inventory stock, and locate open storage areas where new inventory can be placed — both in pallets and on shelves — speeding product replenishment and improving inventory management.
The data can be virtually reviewed for accurate merchandising, as well as optimizing operational expenditures and streamlining store performance.
Benefits for BJ's
"Tally enables us to do things faster. It enables us to refocus our team members' time on the member experience and really do those things that only humans can do,"
"The BJ's brand and mission are all about creating an exceptional member experience. Tally is an amazing robot that allows us, with computer vision, to see exactly where our stock is every single day in every place in the store," said Kostka.
Inventory and product management play directly into the customer experience as customers expect to find products they need with little hassle.
"In a world where customer experience and convenience are paramount, fully stocked shelves and accurately priced products are table stakes," Bogolea said in an email interview." However, due to manual inventory management processes that are rife with human error, one in five products that shoppers want are not out-on-shelf. Additionally, 50% of items ordered online are substituted or not found, which is frustrating and inconvenient for shoppers."
"The introduction of our new capabilities for the large retail format environment represents a breakthrough in connecting the retail ecosystem and improving the in-store experience for everyone. Our proven platform empowers retailers to grow associate and customer retention as well as revenue, with advanced technology and precise, real-time insight into what's happening on store shelves," said Bogolea.
As the platform plays directly into the club associate's workday by ensuring products are priced and shelved correctly, warehouse associates can spend more time helping customers.
"In fact, Simbe's technology allows store associates across our customer base to rededicate 30 hours per week to more engaging, customer-facing work. Tally's data can also close gaps in the pickup and delivery experience by cutting fulfillment times in half and creating alignment between online and in-store availability to further improve the shopper experience," Bogolea said.
Keys to success
In deploying technology, the keys to success, according to Bogolea, are choosing a partner with proven technology and quantifiable results.
"Upon the initial deployment of our Store Intelligence solution, it's important for retailers to determine the most important KPIs and consistently measure against those benchmarks. This affirms the value the platform is driving, and enables successful implementation and scaling of the technology," he said. "From there, we've found that our retail partners have seen the most significant and immediate impact when they share best practices between store locations. By monitoring implementation in each store, retailers can identify top performers and tap them to share insights that ultimately optimize results across the organization."
For BJ's, the Tally deployment has been a success due to Simbe's flexible approach, according to Kostka.
"They've been able to adapt their technology to our needs, to our store format. Typically, Simbe works with grocers, so the BJ's format was a little bit different. We have a larger store with higher steel. We've been able to easily adapt Tally to that environment," she said.
"Members love interacting with Tally. Our team members love interacting with it, and it really gives us amazing insights, and that I think is really the fundamental and compelling platform on which we'll be able to build."
Copyright © 2024 Networld Media. All rights reserved., source
