3 Tips for Successfully Scaling Tally Across Stores

At Simbe, we’ve seen our customers successfully move from proof-of-value programs at a handful of stores to full-scale rollouts across 100+ stores with confidence and efficiency. This transition has led to significantly reduced out-of-stocks, more accurate pricing and promotions, better labor allocation through redistributed hours, improved demand forecasting, more informed labor allocation, enhanced ordering control, and much more.

Because Tally is continuously scanning shelves and collecting data, every store that has implemented Simbe’s Store Intelligence™ platform is making more data-informed decisions. Within three to four months, our customers can see up to 4x ROI across the board including 60% less out-of-stocks, 90% fewer pricing and promotion errors, and more than 50 labor hours per week that can be reallocated to customer service and high-value tasks.

This crucial introductory phase paves the way for larger-scale deployment and increased ROI by providing the valuable shelf-level store data needed to optimize stocking, merchandising, inventory management, and business planning. By strategically deploying across a few test stores, analyzing the insights collected, and championing the immediate results, you will set yourself up to easily scale from a handful of locations to hundreds. The quicker you can get to scale, the quicker you can recoup revenue, and a strong proof-of-value phase creates a blueprint for widespread, chain-wide success.

1. Choose the Right Stores for Your Launch

Start by carefully selecting the first stores to deploy Tally. In these initial locations, you can immediately demonstrate value on an individual store level while also uncovering insights relevant to overall operations.

The most important factor when choosing your initial stores is to pick locations that best represent your business. For example, selecting stores of different sizes, sales volumes, foot traffic, floor plans, and regions. This ensures a variety of scenarios are tested, enabling you to create blueprints for the unique needs of these stores to smooth rollout more broadly. For example, different formats and traffic patterns might require Tally to scan the store at different times and along different paths. Another example might be store-specific lighting that needs to be adjusted slightly to optimize Tally’s computer vision.

Another factor to consider when selecting the initial locations, is a strategy for engaging and empowering store teams. Starting by setting expectations and aligning on goals beforehand is essential, as the team at Schnuck Markets learned.

2. Listen to the Data

Tally’s advanced image capture capabilities provide the shelf-level store intelligence needed to transform operations across your entire business. The proof-of-value phase is all about discovering the areas in your stores — as well as those related to operations, audits, inventory, or ordering — where things are working, and where there’s room for improvement. 

Once Tally is up and running in your initial stores, it will start collecting data immediately — so much data, in fact, that receiving it all at once would be unproductive. That’s why we hold off on sharing data with our customers for the first three weeks. During that time, our team sifts through the information to highlight the insights most relevant to your store. For example, with SpartanNash, one of their earliest priorities was out-of-stock management.

Together, we will establish a reporting structure that turns the data into actionable insights, such as identifying priority restock areas, missed sales, and best-performing product locations. Whether you’re aiming to improve pricing accuracy, reduce out-of-stocks, or streamline operations, the data will help you spot patterns and uncover new opportunities for efficiency. You can then apply these insights in test stores to identify trends that are likely to impact your entire chain.

3. Champion the Results

With a clear understanding of your store’s improved inventory management, shelf availability, and product performance, your team — from merchandising to forecasting to finance — will be ready and eager to scale the solution across more stores. Our secure, cloud-based reporting and dashboard make it easy to manage as you continue to implement the technology across additional locations, garnering chainwide insights about the drivers of top performance.

Another key factor in successful scaling? Having a dedicated internal champion who can demonstrate Tally’s success to employees. This strategy was instrumental in SpartanNash’s rapid expansion from initial testing to deployment in hundreds of stores: a trusted member of their finance team from headquarters went from store to store to explain to employees how Tally works, and why it matters.

Some of our customers prefer an intermediary trial phase, while others move straight from proof-of-value to chain-wide deployment. Whichever path you choose, Simbe is here to help. Our launch kit includes everything you need for a smooth rollout, from onboarding managers and employees, to engaging with shoppers and local press. We help you build awareness, generate excitement, and educate teams and shoppers about Tally’s benefits with:

• A social media kit with ready-to-use posts
• Internal emails and resources for store teams
• Kid-friendly materials like coloring sheets and stickers
• Logos, photos, and FAQs for press
• Opportunities to sponsor robot “meet and greets” or holiday food drives

Maximizing Short- and Long-Term Gains

Within just 30 days of implementing Simbe’s Store Intelligence™ technology, stores can reduce out-of-stocks, improve inventory accuracy, streamline restocking, and free up staff for higher-value tasks, boosting both employee and shopper satisfaction. The more stores that use these insights, the greater the benefits. Plus, advanced features like 360-degree aisle views, become available as you scale.

By selecting the right initial stores, embracing store-level data, and making informed adjustments, businesses can gain the visibility needed to transform operations at scale.