After a successful pilot, Wakefern Food Corp. will expand its relationship with AI and robotics company Simbe Robotics by bringing its technology platform and hardware to more ShopRite locations, shared the technology firm. Tally is an inventory robot that scans shelves to glean store insights.
Wakefern first began integrating Simbe’s business intelligence solution, powered by Tally, to drive inventory optimization at the stores and help employees focus on customer-facing work. The robot operates while customers and employees walk the aisles.
“Tally has proven to be the ideal shelf-intelligence solution for our members as it’s been able to roll right into our technology ecosystem, sending real-time shelf condition data directly to retail associates’ handheld devices,” said Charles J. McWeeney, VP of technology, innovation, and strategy at Wakefern, in a statement. “With timely, consistent, and accurate product data from Tally, our in-store mobile application presents a prioritized aisle-by-aisle inventory worklist to the store associates, ensuring they invest their time in the most meaningful and valuable services for our customers.”
Tally autonomously scans shelves using AI to identify out-of-stock, misplaced, or mispriced products, and generates product location data for efficient inventory replenishment. Then, the Simbe platform delivers actionable insights to improve store operations, according to the robotics company.
“With our business intelligence solution, Wakefern has real-time visibility into shelf health at a frequency and fidelity that cannot be found anywhere else on the market,” said Brad Bogolea, co-founder and CEO of Simbe, in a statement. “This consistent access to deep, precise insights has empowered Wakefern and its members' store teams to further improve the exceptional shopping experience their customers expect by keeping shelves fully stocked.”
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