Supermarket Perimeter - June 2022 - 17

" We only make money if we sell items. It's in our best interests to get
the order right and grow sales. "
Another benefit of the Results-as-a-Service approach is that it doesn't
take years to activate the product, McCord said. That doesn't work
for businesses that want to see an impact right away - instead, Shelf
Engine can be up and running in two to four weeks, and the retailer's IT
team spends only an hour or two on the process.
" They set us up as a new vendor of record, enable an EDI connection
to their point of sale date, and we take it over. It's really that easy. "
Grocers have had an exceptional amount of pressure on their
margins in the last 5-10 years, McCord said: inflation, supply chain
issues, the arrival of new competitors.
Stores are frantically trying to increase, or at least sustain, margins.
When you then layer on the labor shortage stores have been
experiencing for the past couple of years, it creates big demand for new
solutions.
" Shelf Engine is making great leaps and bounds in applying
technology to the challenge of increasing margins, " McCord said. " Our
product takes over forecasting and ordering for retailers on a huge scale
in a highly accurate manner. By examining tens of thousands of factors
to anticipate consumer demand, we are able to place the perfect order
on behalf of customers. "
Shelf Engine is uniquely positioned to ensure retailers can stock
and sell products more optimally, he added. With the company's help,
retailers can focus on what's most important to them - their people
and their customers.
Managing inflation, labor shortages and more
The pandemic has highlighted tremendous opportunities for
technology to solve continuing challenges impacting consumer
behavior in fresh, said Muntazir Mehdi, senior product manager for
analytics and AI for Toronto-based Invafresh, whose technologies
are currently being used in more than 25,000 grocery stores in 15
countries.
Those challenges include inflation, labor shortages and supply
chain issues.
" And it will continue to transform the way consumers shop as grocers
look for innovative ways to provide greater convenience, transparency
and variety in fresh purchases, " Mehdi said.
AI/machine learning has amazing capabilities to advance automation
in fresh and accurately forecast demand, he added. Automated Fresh
Ordering powered by AI and augmented human intelligence optimize
inventory management, so shelves are always in-stock, not overstocked,
providing a variety of fresh foods accessible to all.
From a consumer perspective, Mehdi said, stores that have adopted
these and other fresh-centric technologies provide better experiences
- fresher food, full shelves, greater variety, increased food safety and
transparency.
Invafresh's demand forecasting, which is driven by AI and machine
learning, " drives exceptional consumer experiences by helping to
extend the shelf life and providing retailers the right performance data
to deliver the freshest food, " Mehdi said.
Consumers demand variety and assortment in their fresh food
selections, he added, and Invafresh's Fresh Retail Platform ensures that
Navigating
supply chain
snafus and other
current problems
is much easier with
high-tech solutions
from companies
like Invafresh.
the freshest array of products, including seasonal items, are always in
stock and maximum shelf life is passed on to the end consumers.
" Managing product transformation can be complex. Invafresh makes
it easy and efficient for stores to produce products across all fresh
departments through recipes, creating regulatory compliant labels
with accurate nutrition, allergen, and ingredient statements that keep
consumers informed. "
Invafresh's Fresh Retail Platform, he added, helps retailers gain
visibility on in-store operations, which in turn helps in streamlining floor
and backroom inventory across departments.
The platform also plays a vital role in increasing efficiency with instore
production across departments by driving automation resulting in
3% improvement in labor efficiency, 5% increase in fresh sales and 30%
reduction in food waste.
Fresh Ordering automatically generates just-in-time replenishment
requirements for store backrooms for all fresh food retail grocery
departments using in-store backroom perpetual inventory,
merchandising requirements, transformation through recipes and, fresh
food retail forecasts transformed into ordering units integrated with
pre-existing retailer order fulfillment systems for significant labor- and
cost-savings.
" Our fresh-native, fully modular platform is designed to process
the living data of fresh and operationalize to forecast constant shifts
in demand to optimize and match with supply and availability to
reduce food waste and drive sustainable fresh operations, " Mehdi
said. " Retailers gain one centralized platform to manage and improve
visibility of all Fresh departments as well as performance at the
store level. "
The platform is unique, he added, in its ability to handle all fresh use
cases, ranging from meat, bakery, produce deli, and more - each with
its own specific nuances and edge cases.
With increased access to technology and information, end
consumers are becoming smarter, Mehdi said, and they expect variety,
transparency, safety and consistency in their fresh purchases.
" Fresh has already become a key differentiating factor for retailers that
helps them stand out in an extremely competitive market. "
supermarketperimeter.com
JUNE 2022 - 17
http://www.supermarketperimeter.com
Supermarket Perimeter - June 2022

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