Dive Brief:
- The Fresh Market plans to digitize signage and inventory management chainwide by implementing a new suite of technology solutions by VusionGroup, according to a Tuesday announcement.
- The technology suite, Vusion 360, aims to increase productivity and efficiency, improve inventory management and product quality, and offer data-driven solutions.
- This partnership builds on The Fresh Market’s portfolio of technology tie-ups and comes as the specialty grocer continues to expand its footprint.
Dive Insight:
The Fresh Market plans to have Vusion 360 operating across its store fleet by the end of 2025. The suite of capabilities will equip stores with electronic shelf labels, analytics tools and cloud-based inventory management solutions, according to the press release.
The new ESLs paired with the VusionCloud platform are geared towards assisting associates. The ELS will enable employees to adjust prices remotely and are equipped with flashing lights to make online in-store fulfillment and replenishment tasks more efficient.
Vusion’s Captana’s Computer Vision & AI system, which detects real-time out-of-stocks, will also assist with replenishment. In addition, the technology will address issues with produce display, fresh food availability and food waste.
Meanwhile, Vusion’s Memory Store Analytics system will measure the ROI on the grocer’s KPIs as well as support in-store merchandising decisions, timing for out-of-stocks and emphasize waste reduction efforts.
The Vusion 360 suite will work in tandem with Cisco Meraki infrastructure The Fresh Market’s stores already have in place, the announcement noted.
In recent years, The Fresh Market has introduced new technology tie-ups to bolster store efficiencies. At the start of 2023, the specialty grocer expanded its partnership with Invafresh, which runs a platform to automate demand forecasting. Simultaneously, The Fresh Market announced the expanded rollout of voice communication technology from VocoVo to enhance in-store communication between workers.
The specialty grocer is currently more than a year into an ambitious two-year growth plan and operates 165 locations.
