Part of Foodstuffs, a co-operative whose history dates to 1922, Foodstuffs South Island, formed in 1928, offers many kinds of shopping experiences, from grocery and convenience stores to large-scale supermarkets, wholesale, and speciality liquor stores. The company also owns recognisable retail chains Four Square, New World and PAK’nSAVE, as well as in-store private brands Pam and Pam’s Finest.
Staff at Foodstuffs have used mobile computers to perform core functions such as ordering stock age of stock, stocktaking, price verification and the recent online order pickle application.
Time to upgrade
According to Ian Colhoun, user technology manager for Foodstuffs South Island, the previous mobile technology the company was using, the mc3190, was nearing its end-of-life, and was starting to cause reliability issues. In addition, the costs and capability to develop additional applications on these devices were unsustainable. The company also identified that it needed a 3D bar scan going forward.
The upgrade includes Zebra’s TC51 and TC52 mobile computers, ET51 Android tablet, and RS5100 Bluetooth wearable scanner. The TC51 and TC52 mobile computers provide its retail associates with ready access to their inventory levels to reduce lost sales resulting from out-of-stock situations.
Having such crucial information at their fingertips would also enable retail associates to spend more time engaging with shoppers to provide a better shopping experience.
The ET51 Android tablet and RS5100 Bluetooth wearable scanner help streamline workflows and increase the scanning speed of its market online picking team, resulting in enhanced productivity from its retail backend.
Colhoun said that by digitalizing its processes, "we give our retail associates ready access to key information about our inventory levels from the shop floor to avoid facing out-of-stock situations."
“This also eliminates the hassle of leaving the shop floor to check our office computer for data to answer shoppers’ simple questions. Promptly responding to our shoppers’ questions with real-time information about available stock will vastly improve the overall shopping experience which is our utmost priority,” he added.
A global trend is underway
According to Zebra’s 15th Annual Global Shopper Study, retail associates expressed out-of-stock complaints as their number one frustration (43% globally and 38% in APAC). Globally, a whopping 76% (64% in APAC) of shoppers leave without the items they intended to purchase with 49% (44% in APAC) blaming it on out-of-stocks.
“In recent years, we are observing a trend of renewed consumer expectations across the region as more shoppers seek a seamless omnichannel shopping experience,” said Christanto Suryadarma, Southeast Asia (SEA) sales vice president for Zebra Technologies Asia Pacific.
“With retailers pressured to keep up with rising shopper expectations, empowering retail associates with the right technology tools to effectively perform their duties will be crucial in responding to shopper needs and deliver on-demand effectively.”
Christanto Suryadarma
