Fix lost sales opportunities, fast!
Driving Sales: How Akuret helped one of Sweden's biggest grocery retailers solve lost sales issues to boost sales (and raise store associate productivity in the process!)
In today’s fast-paced retail environment, operational efficiency and inventory management are critical for maintaining customer satisfaction and maximizing profits. One grocery store chain was facing significant challenges in these areas—specifically, the time and effort spent managing product availability, tracking down stock issues, and ensuring a smooth shopping experience for its customers.
To overcome these obstacles, the grocery chain turned to Akuret, seeking a data-driven solution to streamline their operations. Here’s how Akuret helped this grocery chain transform its processes, save time, and increase revenue.
The Challenge: Operational and other issues resulted in high levels of lost sales
Operational issues, such as merchandising failures, prevented customers from buying the products they wanted. Additionally, problems with pricing, product location, and other non-operational factors negatively impacted sales.
To find these issues, store associates dedicate countless hours every week walking through the aisles, scanning empty shelves, and trying to pinpoint the causes of the sales issues. Even though their POS system was aware that certain shelves were empty, there was no digital tracking mechanism to trace the root causes or speed up restocking. This process not only consumed valuable employee time but also led to missed opportunities for customer purchases
The grocery chain knew they needed a more efficient, data-driven approach to manage these issues. They wanted a system that could alert associates to problems in real-time and help track and resolve issues without the manual labor of constantly surveying store shelves.
The Solution: Leveraging data with Akuret
The grocery chain partnered with Akuret to implement a less costly, innovative, automated inventory management approach to solve this issue.
Here’s how it worked:
Daily Data Integration:
The grocery chain supplied Akuret with daily transaction data, enabling the system to identify product availability issues.
Store-Level Alerts:
Akuret’s app was installed on handheld devices used by store associates. Twice a week, the app would send alerts directly to these devices, flagging specific inventory issues, such as empty shelves or misplaced products.
Fixed Lost Sales:
By receiving and acting on these alerts, store associates spent just 60 minutes per week addressing issues, drastically reducing the time spent on manual shelf scanning.
The Results: Tangible improvements in efficiency and sales
Thanks to the Akuret app, the grocery chain saw immediate benefits, including:
Sales Increased:
By ensuring that shelves remained stocked, and products were readily available, the chain experienced a 0.5% increase in total store revenue.
Time Saved:
Store associates saved 4 hours per week on average, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks like customer service and restocking.
