Every
sector of retail foodservice is exploring, testing, rolling out new
technologies, services, and formats to add customer relevance to their brand
while edifying its relationship with its core customers according to Steven
Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.
Recently Hispanic
grocer Sedano’s Supermarket has joined
forces with e-grocery solution Takeoff Technologies to launch what the
companies say is the inaugural automated hyperlocal fulfillment center
anywhere, or “the world’s first robotic supermarket.” While Amazon might
dispute they were first this is a big step for the grocery sector according to
Johnson. This will be a platform for new electricity at Sedano’s.
The
cutting-edge technology will allow customer orders to be placed via online app
and carried out by Takeoff’s automated
micro-fulfillment center, with the support of Sedano’s associates. Artificial
intelligence (AI)-enabled robots will put together full supermarket orders of
as many as 60 items in just a few minutes – a fraction of the speed and cost of
current manual picking options.
Jose
Vicente Aguerrevere, co-founder and CEO of Waltham, Mass.-based Takeoff
stated “Grocers have been dipping their
toes in e-groceries for years,”… “Now it’s time to jump in with both feet. Our
automated, hyperlocal micro-fulfillment center enables grocers to thrive in
e-grocery.”
The new robotic
center will service 14 Sedano’s stores in the grocer’s hometown of Miami and
offer consumers pickup services. Javier Herran, chief marketing officer for
Sedano’s “We are excited to partner with Takeoff at the forefront of this
groundbreaking robotics solution,” …“This model gives us the ability to leap
into the e-grocery industry, develop a new level of employment opportunities,
and continue meeting the needs of our valued consumers by offering an
affordable and convenient online service.”
Takeoff’s
aim is to develop hyperlocal fulfillment centers in one-eighth the footprint of
a average supermarket, using innovative robotics and compact vertical spaces.
The company is currently collaborating with five U.S. regional and national
retail chains and has several sites in the pipeline to roll out in next year.
Ultimately, Takeoff plans to build such centers across the United States, in
both urban and suburban areas.
“Sedano’s
is a great partner for kicking off our solution, and we couldn’t be more
thrilled to work alongside them in providing a turnkey e-grocery solution,”
said Takeoff co-founder and President Max Pedro. “We’re robotizing the
supermarket – which has never been done before. This is the first of many
deployments we are working on, and shoppers will soon see more local grocery
stores with micro-fulfillment centers.”
So, just what is your brands new
electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with
innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution
all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”
Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be
very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing
brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging,
autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments,
digital hand-held marketing.
Foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail
must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously
embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is
familiar not different. That will require brands to embrace new fresh
food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.
Foodservice Solutions® specializes in
outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify
additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and
brand and menu integration strategy. Foodservice Solutions® of
Tacoma WA is the global leader in
the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/
or www.twitter.com/grocerant/
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