Stor.ai’s latest white-label tool helps grocers adapt picking strategies on-the-go, furthering their ability to independently manage their digital transformation
Stor.ai, the end-to-end digital commerce solution for grocers, today announced the launch of its new picking app. The app’s innovative set of bespoke features will enable stor.ai’s customers – including hundreds of retailers in North America, Europe and the Middle East – to combine multiple picking strategies in fulfilling orders, managing pickers’ time more efficiently and improving the customer experience.
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Given the rising popularity of online grocery shopping in recent years, a trend significantly expedited by the Covid-19 pandemic, offering a seamless and holistic digital shopping experience is now a core business need for retailers. Stor.ai’s new picking app helps grocers offer this in a manner which not only improves results for shoppers, but also bolsters efficiency and profitability for retailers. By reducing pickers’ average UPH (units picked per hour), through a suite of smart tools which boost their awareness of item availability and enables them to make real-time decisions informed by data, retailers can now maximize the amount and range of orders processed over a given time period without increasing costs.
“Today’s grocers must respond to a pressing industry challenge: processing an ever-increasing percentage of their orders digitally while maintaining profitability,” said Orlee Tal, CEO, stor.ai. “In the face of the rise of third-party ecommerce providers, such as Instacart, Shipt and others, the only way for grocers to maintain their independence, brand identities, and ability to scale profitably is to develop their own ecommerce strategies capable of competing with these industry giants. The launch of stor.ai’s new picking app is a key turning point in equipping grocers with the tools to navigate the inexorable rise of online shopping.”
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“Stor.ai’s new application allows pickers to pick multiple orders at a time as well as having a batch mode where store is split into zones where pickers can pick in batches,” said Mike Karasik, CIO, Netcost. “As a retailer, we enjoy a much faster pick-time on a per-order basis when implementing the batch and zone pick strategy. This reduction in picking time generates a huge reduction in our labor costs. I am happy that our relationship with stor.ai has been a journey based on continual improvement. I am also very happy to have a partner in a vendor that provides great resources and a channel for feedback where our requirements are expeditiously implemented.”
Stor.ai’s picking app shows retailer headquarters real-time insights based on a chain’s entire set of operations, enabling them to divide up picking between multiple stores and MFCs at peak times. Thanks to a constant supply of situation-based proactive alerts, stores can continually adapt to customer demand, enabling them to grow and adapt according to each stores’ unique physical conditions and characteristics. This enables grocers to build an ecommerce offering suited to their individual customer base over the long term.
The app also displays a shelf-by-shelf breakdown of item availability, a significant improvement in clarity compared to store-wide planograms. As a result, managers can immediately identify bottlenecks and anticipate delays, increasing UPH ratios to make picking more efficient without compromising on accuracy. For example, internal algorithms can detect whether a product is out of stock, so pickers can find replacements in advance without wasting time searching for missing goods, and the app also facilitates easier synchronization across multiple picking zones.