Belgian retailer Colruyt has introduced Product Finder technology, which it says will enable store workers to save up to 90 minutes a day stocking shelves.
The new technology, developed by the Colruyt Group Smart Technics innovation team, was tested at the Colruyt's Poperinge and Heverlee stores.
When store workers scan an item with a barcode scanner connected to their smartphones, the light on the electronic price label on the shelf flashes, telling them where the item goes.
Digitisation And Innovation
Rudi Dewulf, regional director Colruyt Lowest Prices, said, "This new application fits in our vision to simplify the lives of store workers through digitisation and innovations, and allows them to do their job more efficiently (and enjoyably), because we feel strongly about our worker's well-being. The fact that we're also saving money with this, is a nice bonus.”
"Colruyt sells approximately 18,000 items and we know in which aisle they go, but finding the exact location can be tricky at times. For example, the aisle with the many different types of herbs or the wine aisle,” he added.
Between 2017 and 2019, the retailer rolled out smartphones for all 16,000 Colruyt Lowest Prices, OKay and Bio-Planet store workers.
In addition to regular features, these phones are allow workers to access support services by phone and chat, get information on deliveries, update price labels, read mails and view e-learnings.
Rollout Plan
The retailer hopes to introduce the new feature to all Colruyt Lowest prices stores by the second half of 2023. It will be rolled out to the OKay stores later, the company noted.
Colruyt Group will also explore other uses of the new technology in the future, such as for picking items for customers ordered through Collect&Go or quickly finding items that are close to the best before date.
"Our priority for this technology today is simplifying our store workers' job. We'll also investigate how customers will be able to use it, maybe with the existing Xtra app," Dewulf said.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest technology news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
