The United Family, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Albertsons Cos., has launched Tally, an autonomous robot that is part of Simbe’s store intelligence platform.
This pilot will introduce Tally in select stores to enhance inventory management, improve out-of-stock items and elevate the overall guest shopping experience. The United Family will utilize this technology across its Texas and New Mexico markets.
The program, set to run through January, will be conducted in Market Street, United Supermarkets and Albertsons Market locations. Tally will autonomously navigate store aisles three to four times daily, scanning shelves to identify out-of-stock items and pricing discrepancies, allowing store teams to address issues more quickly and efficiently. This proactive inventory management approach will free team members to focus on providing a higher level of guest service.
Reyes Jimenez, chief information officer of The United Family, emphasized the importance of exceptional guest service and continuous innovation.
‘To maintain a high level of service to our guests, we look for ways to enhance operational efficiency,” he said. “The Tally robot allows us to address inventory and other challenges with incredible precision, enabling our store teams to focus on what matters most – serving our guests. We are excited about the improvements this AI and robotics technology will bring to our stores and are eager to evaluate its potential for expansion to other locations.”
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By identifying as much as 10 times more out-of-stock items than manual store checks, Tally can substantially reduce out-of-stock rates, ensuring that guests are more likely to find the products they need. Tally’s detailed reporting will give stores and business intelligence teams daily actionable data, allowing them to focus on high-priority issues. This is expected not only to improve operational efficiency and enhance the shopping experience but also to positively impact sales as stores see better product availability and pricing accuracy.
While Tally operates autonomously, it does so in a discreet manner, ensuring that the shopping experience is uninterrupted and at no point are guests being photographed or filmed by the technology. Tally makes subtle noises to avoid surprising or startling anyone as it scans shelves. If Tally encounters a guest, it will either pause, go around them, or turn around and come back later. Guests are encouraged to provide feedback during the pilot, which will help shape the future of this initiative.
Tally is designed to complement the work of employees, not replace them. By handling repetitive tasks like scanning shelves for inventory and price accuracy, Tally frees up team members to engage in other activities and responsibilities for customer shopping experiences.
At the conclusion of the pilot in January, The United Family will review the data and determine the next steps, including the potential expansion of the Tally robots to additional stores.
