Simbe has formed a Client Advisory Board, bringing together leaders from retailers – including BJ’s Wholesale Club, Schnuck Markets, SPAR, Harmons Grocery and Country Supplier – to inform product strategy, foster peer collaboration and guide the future of shelf digitization technology.
“The CAB reflects our belief that the best innovation comes from partnership, not only with Simbe but also with industry peers,” said Benjamin Bond, SVP of strategy and client success at Simbe, a retail shelf digitization and store intelligence company.
“This forum ensures Simbe will continue to lead the industry in maximizing the value and impact for our clients.”
The group spans grocery, club, farm and home improvement sectors. Board members include Krystyna Kostka, chief supply chain officer at BJ’s Wholesale Club; Kim Anderson, VP of store operations support at Schnuck Markets; Nina Dedic, GenAI product lead at SPAR ICS; Bruce Hatch, CIO at Harmons Grocery; and Mandi Dyer, COO of Country Supplier.
Simbe also announced that retail strategist Thom Blischok has come aboard as an executive advisor to the CEO and leadership team. Blischok previously served as chief retail and CPG strategist at PwC and held senior roles at Symphony IRI, Equifax and Coopers & Lybrand.
“Retailers and CPG manufacturers are navigating hundreds of new technologies. Some will succeed, and many will not,” Blischok said. “Simbe is a proven, scalable platform with over a decade of performance and adoption.”
According to Coresight Research, global retailers can recoup an average of 5.5 percent of revenue annually with technology-enabled store efficiencies, and planned investments in related technologies have increased 151 percent year over year.
Retailers deploying Simbe’s Store Intelligence platform report 98 percent on-shelf availability, 90 percent improved pricing and promo accuracy and 2 percent margin growth. Store teams reallocate up to 50 hours per week to higher-value tasks.
“Automated inventory control and integrated reporting ensure better control of product availability on the shelves of our stores, and our employees have more time for personal customer service,” said Hans K. Reisch, CEO of SPAR Austria Group.
The San Francisco-based company’s platform combines mobile robotics, fixed sensors and computer vision to deliver real-time insights across inventory, pricing and merchandising. Simbe serves retailers across grocery, club, drug and general merchandise sectors in 10 countries.