How store operations shape the grocery shopping experience

Put the first phase of your budget toward the problem that causes the most rework or errors. If staff spend hours correcting stock records, start by improving how stores record stock movements. Add capabilities in stages, and ask vendors to show what would need to change in the initial setup when you add a store or introduce self-checkout.

Manage prices and promotions centrally and specify which stores, regions and channels each offer applies to. Before rollout, check that a price change and a promotion appear correctly at the till and at online checkout. In LS Central, head office can set prices and offers by store or region. A webshop connected through eCommerce for LS Central can draw its prices from the same system.

Show shoppers what’s available at the store where they’ll pick up their order. Check how your webshop handles stock already committed to other orders, and look into products that staff regularly have to substitute. When a substitution is needed, give pickers clear rules on what they can replace and how to handle preferences such as the ripeness of fresh produce.

Start with how people shop in each store. Keep staffed tills for shoppers who want help, and trial self-checkout where many customers make quick trips for a few items. Plan for staff to step in when a shopper needs help at self-checkout. Mobile self-scanning, like ScanPayGo, is another option to try where shoppers would benefit from packing as they go and keeping track of their total. Test the mix in different store formats or regions before a wider rollout. Compare how many shoppers use each option and what happens to queues, staff interventions and stock losses.

Look at tasks that take staff away from the shop floor, such as going to a back-office computer to enter stock counts or record a delivery. With LS Central, staff can record counts, receive deliveries and pick orders on a handheld device where they do the work. If that frees up time, decide where it would be most useful, such as helping shoppers during the busiest hours.

Compare similar periods before and after rollout. For electronic shelf labels, track time spent changing tags and the cost of correcting pricing errors. For inventory tools, track stock-handling time and any stockout or overstock costs you can measure reliably. Subtract monthly running costs from the monthly cash savings you expect to realize. If the net saving is positive and reasonably stable, divide the upfront cost by that amount to estimate simple payback in months. Track hours freed for other work separately from savings such as reduced overtime.

Use purchase history to choose offers shoppers are likely to find useful, such as savings on products they buy regularly. Reports and analytics in LS Central can help grocers identify those buying patterns and decide which offers to run. Explain what data you collect and why, collect only what you need, and make it easy for shoppers to see their data and manage their preferences. Check the privacy and consent requirements that apply in each market.