Rhode Island-based United Natural Foods Inc. and North Carolina-based ECRS have announced an agreement allowing ECRS to assist new and existing CATAPULT retail users in taking advantage of the UNFI Professional Services suite from digital coupons and third-party delivery services to more affordable electronic payments.
The agreement provides a working relationship around Electronic Data Interchange capabilities and empowers UNFI field employees through ECRS retail automation technology training.
UNFI Professional Services’ customizable suite of business solutions help independent grocery retailers increase sales, lower costs and enhance their customers’ experience. The CATAPULT retail automation solution connects inventory and supply chain, customer loyalty, point-of-sale, self-service, online ordering and other critical retail operations technologies in real time.
“UNFI retail customers utilize our scale, insights and innovative offerings to deliver a differentiated value proposition and our agreement with ECRS will help these retailers continue to grow and thrive,” said Chris Testa, UNFI president.
“It is imperative in today’s environment that retailers use technology to simplify their business and elevate the shopping experience, giving them more time to focus on their consumers. This is another example of how our services offering and key business partnerships are making a difference for our customers and helping them compete in today’s challenging marketplace.”
With ECRS’ subscription-based supply chain software, ECRS Gateway, and UNFI’s Data Exchange program, customers can automate supply chain processes and simplify the ordering experience. CATAPULT users can electronically submit documents, including purchase orders and receive invoices, promotional files, and catalog data.
“UNFI provides a great deal of technological services at a scale that can give our mutual retail customers tremendous leverage in the marketplace,” said Pete Catoe, ECRS founder and CEO.
“This agreement allows ECRS to play an active role in ensuring our UNFI customers can take full advantage of these competitive differentiators. ECRS has been working closely with UNFI for over two decades, and we are very appreciative of the organization and its people.”
ECRS Gateway hosts more than 2,000 EDI accounts across UNFI’s retail customer network. Using ECRS Gateway, these retailer accounts are expected to process more than 500,000 electronic transmissions in 2023, in the form of purchasing and receiving documents to and from UNFI. Not only are these orders automatically transmitted to UNFI, but many of them are also created automatically, through CATAPULT’s advanced scheduling and computer-assisted replenishment models. This reduces the need for manual entry and puts products on the floor faster.
Retailers interested in learning more about this program can reach out to UNFI’s Professional Services or visit the ECRS booth No. 1137 Feb. 26-28 at the NGA Show in Las Vegas.
