Retail grocer Foodstuffs South Island is partnering up with US tech company Zebra Technologies for a greater shopping experience in a time of high cost-of-living.
The partnership between the two comes at a time when companies are digitising to enhance productivity.
Foodstuffs South Island will be using Zebra Technologies’ mobile computers, tablets and wearable scanners to “achieve greater productivity, inventory visibility and accuracy [to offer an] improved shopping experience”.
The technology and software used will be able to reduce lost sales caused by issues such as out-of-stock situations, as information becomes more accessible.
Digitising the wholesale grocery company will streamline workflow, increase the scanning speed and overall enhanced productivity.
This will also allow retail associates to spend more time engaging with customers to provide a better shopping experience.
“By digitalising our process, we give our retail associates ready access to key information of our inventory levels from the shop floor to avoid facing out-of-stock situations,” says Ian Colhoun, User Technology Manager from Foodstuffs South Island.
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“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.”
Zebra Technologies 15th Annual Global Shopper Study shows that out-of-stock complaints are the number one frustration for customers at 38 percent in the, Australia Pacific and Asia (APAC) region.
Sixty-four percent of customers in the APAC region leave without the items they intended to purchase, with 44 percent blaming it on out-of-stock levels.
“There has been a sharp rise in consumer expectations across Australia and New Zealand in recent years with shoppers expecting a seamless experience as they toggle between online and physical store shopping,” says Tom Christodoulou, Sales Vice President of Australia and NZ at Zebra Technologies.
Through the partnership with Zebra Technologies, Foodstuffs South Island is hoping to address these issues they have been facing across their supermarkets, wholesale and specialty liquor stores.
“To ensure that retails can meet the high expectations of shoppers today, they will first need to empower their retail associates with the right technology to perform their duties,” adds Christodoulou.
