SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Simbe, the only multimodal provider of Store Intelligence™ solutions, today announced a new international partnership with CarrefourSA, a Turkish subsidiary of Sabanci Holding and Carrefour Group which operates in over 1,200 stores across 64 provinces and employs a workforce of 15,000.
As a surging number of global retailers deploy Simbe’s platform, new research also reveals that over three of four shoppers prefer retailers with in-store robots.
CarrefourSA Enhances Shoppers’ Experience with AI & Robotics Automation
As autonomous and AI-powered robotic technologies transform the retail sector, CarrefourSA deployed Tally into select stores this summer as an expression of its commitment to deliver the right products from the right producers at the right prices to its customers. The new stores add a new country to Simbe’s three continent roster.
Designed to enhance the customer experience, Tally operates three times a day, scanning store aisles to ensure items are stocked and tagged properly. The robot captures images of products and shelves and processes them in near real-time, which allows store personnel to quickly replenish any missing items. Additionally, Tally monitors and addresses issues related to incorrect labeling that customers may encounter during their shopping experience.
Tally has positively contributed to employee efficiency in CarrefourSA stores, with saved staff time redirected towards enhancing customer experience and communication.
Retailers Increasingly Embrace Store Intelligence
Modern retailers are making strategic investments in technology and data that enhance the shopping experience, improve store teams’ job satisfaction, and reclaim revenue. Through Simbe’s platform – which combines industry-leading computer vision, AI, and the world’s most advanced autonomous item-scanning robot, Tally – retailers gain visibility into near real-time store and shelf conditions. Having a continuous, accurate view of store interiors for the first time eradicates retail’s last data desert and unlocks new opportunities to capture market share.
Simbe’s partnership with CarrefourSA – which come on the heels of new and expanded deployments with Northeast Grocery, TOPS Friendly Markets, Price Chopper Supermarkets-Market 32, SpartanNash and Wakefern – emphasize the substantial value that top retailers derive from enlisting Simbe’s market-leading solutions to digitize physical stores, achieving unprecedented levels of precision and performance across all channels.
Simbe powers automated shelf digitization for the largest number of retail banners in the world. Retailers such as BJ’s Wholesale, SpartanNash, Schnucks, Wakefern, and more – as well as Fortune 500 retailers yet to be formally announced – have realized substantial ROI and transformative impacts on all aspects of their business by partnering with Simbe.
Shoppers Prefer Stores that Use Robots
Today’s top frustrations for shoppers include inconsistent pricing, confusing promotions, and low or out-of-stock (OOS) inventory – all of which can lead to dissatisfaction and a lack of trust. Enterprising retailers are addressing these challenges through cutting-edge technology, such as inventory robots that help store teams keep shelves fully stocked with the right products at the right price.
In a recent survey of over 400 U.S. shoppers who have visited retailers with in-store robots in the last three months, the majority – and particularly those who shop more frequently – cited a positive affinity and strong preference for robots in store. The research demonstrates robots’ tangible impact on alleviating these common pain points and creating a differentiated shopping experience.
Additional findings from the study include:
- Only 4% of shoppers view retail robots in a negative light. The majority (77%) of shoppers view in-store robots positively, and nearly all shoppers (96%) have a positive or neutral attitude.
- Most shoppers view retailers with in-store robots as innovative (84%) and growing companies (80%), who are investing in its customers’ experience (76%).
- Most shoppers believe robots will improve the accuracy of on-shelf labeling (72%) and ensure the products they want are available on shelf (69%).
- Shopper positivity remains constant across repeated exposure to in-store retail robots. 100% of shoppers that liked seeing a robot one time felt the same at 3 or more times.
- Frequent shoppers feel even more positive about robots, liking in-store robots 29% more than infrequent shoppers.
- Most consumers (61%) are more likely to shop at retailers who have in-store robots.
The above trends are likely to expand, as younger consumers are most favorable to in-store retail robots.
“At the beginning of 2024, IGD predicted that retailers will focus on computer vision, automation, robotics and AI to drive productivity and reduce costs. The number of retailers across geographies that are now leveraging Simbe’s technology is a great example of IGD’s prediction coming to fruition,” said Toby Pickard, Retail Futures Senior Partner at the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).
“Regarding the recent survey of U.S. shoppers, the findings align with what I’ve previously heard from CEO’s and Store Managers, who have told me how Tally is helping drive footfall to their stores as the robot brings joy and excitement to shoppers, especially those with children. As the benefits of automation, computer vision, robotics and AI continue to become more apparent – from improving e-commerce pick rates to ensuring planogram compliance and enabling virtual store tours – I expect we will see more and more retailers implementing such technology to ensure they remain operationally efficient and offer the best service to shoppers.”
A more comprehensive look at the shopper sentiment data can be found in the research report here, which was conducted by Diagnostic Measurement Group. Simbe is also hosting a webinar on October 2 at 12 PM PST – What Retail Shoppers Think of In-store Robots – to discuss the findings in greater depth. To learn more about Simbe’s Store Intelligence platform, visit www.simberobotics.com.
About Simbe
Only Simbe’s Store Intelligence™ platform offers multimodal solutions to increase retail brands’ performance with unprecedented visibility and near real-time insights. Cutting-edge AI and robotics power business-critical intelligence that streamlines inventory management and store operations, while elevating store teams and shoppers’ experiences.
Simbe’s comprehensive platform includes the world’s first autonomous, item-scanning robot, Tally, which identifies exact product location, stock level, and pricing & promotion information with market-leading computer vision. Simbe works with top worldwide brands in the US, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.simberobotics.com.
About CarrefourSA
The Carrefour Group, which is the world’s leading retail chain, became the first company to bring the hypermarket concept to Turkey when it opened its first market in Turkey in Içerenköy, Istanbul, in 1993. In 1996, due to the partnership between Sabanci Holding, one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates, and the Carrefour Group, it was renamed as CarrefourSA, and the first CarrefourSA market was inaugurated in Adana in 1997. In line with the new strategies created when the management was transferred to Sabanci Holding in 2013, it maintained its assertiveness of being the leading retailer of the sector by making significant investments in many areas such as human resources, technological infrastructure, and store concept. It continues to grow in line with its “New Generation Supermarket vision with the “Lezzet Arasi” restaurants that it launched in 2017 to provide its customers with a gastronomic experience in the stores, which is a first in the sector, and the “Dealership” system it launched in 2020 to support local tradesmen and entrepreneurs and bring them together under the umbrella of CarrefourSA.
Today, CarrefourSA, which works to meet the needs and expectations of its customers in the most accurate way with 15 thousand employees, in nearly 1200 stores in the “Hyper, Super, Gourmet, Mini” concepts and on the www.carrefoursa.com Online Market, delivers 50 thousand products in the right quality and the right price to more than 209,5 million visitors annually in accordance with the guiding principle of “The Right Ones Are at CarrefourSA”.
Contact
Caitlin Allen
SVP of Market
press@simberobotics.com
