Foodstuffs South Island improves productivity and inventory visibility with Zebra Technologies

Leading retail grocery co-operative in New Zealand streamlines workflows through digitalization

Foodstuffs South Island is using Zebra Technologies’ mobile computers, tablets and wearable scanners to achieve greater productivity, inventory visibility and accuracy, and improved shopping experience. 

According to Zebra’s 15^th Annual Global Shopper Study, retail associates expressed out-of-stock complaints as their number one frustration (43% globally and 38% in APAC). In APAC, a whopping 64% of shoppers leave without the items they intended to purchase with 44% blaming it on out-of-stocks.

In light of this, the Zebra solution implemented by Foodstuffs South Island provide its retail associates with ready access to their inventory levels to reduce lost sales resulting from out-of-stock situations, enabling retail associates to spend more time engaging with shoppers to provide a better shopping experience.

“By digitalizing 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,” said Ian Colhoun, User Technology Manager, Foodstuffs South Island. “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.”

Operating since 1928, Foodstuffs South Island offers many kinds of shopping experiences, from grocery and convenience stores to large-scale supermarkets, wholesale, and specialty liquor stores. The company also owns recognizable retail chains Four Square, New World and PAK’nSAVE, as well as in-store private brands Pam and Pam’s Finest.

The solution

The solution implemented by Foodstuffs South Island 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.

“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, 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.”

To learn more about Foodstuffs South Island’s implementation of Zebra’s solution, please watch this video.