How to Enhance In-Store Visibility with Virtual Tours

In today’s rapidly evolving retail landscape, grocers face immense pressure from shoppers, shareholders, and brand & distribution partners. Shoppers expect perfect, personalized experiences despite the challenges posed by labor shortages, inflation, and supply chain constraints. To meet these demands, retailers need solutions that are cost-effective and offer high returns on investment, unlocking value across the business.

The Importance of In-Store Visibility

Having true visibility into product demand is crucial for running today’s stores effectively. Retailers need to know what’s happening inside their stores, not just what goes in and what comes out. Think of it like cooking a meal: you need to know what ingredients you have, how much you need of each, and where they are stored to successfully make the dish. Precise in-store visibility allows retailers to answer key questions such as:

• What products are in the store?
• Where are they located?
• What are their prices?
• And how are they being merchandised?

Store digitization provides this much-needed visibility, allowing grocers to gain insights where they currently have blind spots. True visibility into inventory availability, location, pricing, and promotion accuracy enables precise execution across product placements, shelf levels, coordinated campaigns, and cross/upsell opportunities.

Bridging the Gap with Virtual Tour Solutions

As technology continues to advance, retailers are finding innovative ways to digitize their entire stores, providing remote visibility into areas that were previously inaccessible. One such capability changing the game is the 360-degree virtual tour, where retailers can walk through stores without leaving their offices. With this technology, retailers view their stores remotely from anywhere, gaining unmatched depth and frequency of insights. Virtual tours provide retail teams with the remote insights needed to

• Optimize store layouts
• Make strategic decisions efficiently
• Save significant time and resources
• Maintain store operations and product presentation standards

Legacy solutions often provide infrequent, costly, once-a-year scans that quickly become outdated. In contrast, newer capabilities like Simbe’s Virtual Tour offer frequent, automated high-definition interior scans that replace expensive annual ones requiring manual efforts. This helps maintain optimal store conditions and easily benchmark performance across locations. Retailers can customize the areas to be scanned and the scanning frequency based on their business needs, providing flexibility and precision.

Key Use Cases for Virtual Tours in Retail

The applications for virtual tour technology are vast, offering both practical and strategic benefits. Here are just a few examples of how retailers are using this solution today:

Stock Level Verification Before Peak Hours
Ensuring that key sections like bakery and produce are well-stocked before peak hours can significantly enhance the shopping experience. With virtual tours, store teams can verify stock levels remotely and make timely restocking decisions, just like having an extra pair of eyes in the store.

Promotional Compliance
Promotional displays play a crucial role in driving sales. Virtual tours allow managers to remotely check that seasonal and promotional displays are correctly set up, ensuring consistency and compliance across all stores.

Visual Merchandising Consistency
Consistency in visual merchandising is key to brand recognition and customer satisfaction. Virtual tours help ensure that promotional aisles and product displays are uniform across all locations, maintaining a cohesive brand image.

Quality Assurance Checks
Maintaining the quality of perishables is vital for customer satisfaction and safety. Virtual tours enable remote inspection of perishable items before store opening, ensuring that only the freshest products are on display.

Safety and Compliance Audits
Compliance with safety standards is non-negotiable. Virtual tours allow retailers to verify aisle spacing, emergency exits, and other safety measures remotely, ensuring that all stores meet regulatory requirements.

Asset Management
Proper maintenance of store assets like refrigeration units and Wi-Fi access points is crucial for smooth operations. Virtual tours help monitor the condition of these assets, facilitating timely maintenance and preventing downtime.

Performance Benchmarking Across Locations
Benchmarking performance across multiple locations helps identify best practices and areas for improvement. Virtual tours provide a comprehensive view of different store layouts and product placements, aiding in performance comparison and optimization.

Loss Prevention Strategies
Theft prevention is a critical aspect of retail management. Virtual tours enable retailers to assess high-risk areas, such as self-checkout zones, and implement effective loss prevention measures.

Solutions like Simbe’s Virtual Tour capability are helping evolve the way retailers manage their stores, offering unprecedented insights and operational efficiency. By leveraging advanced computer vision technology, retailers can ensure optimal store conditions, enhance compliance, and make strategic decisions with ease.

To learn more about how Simbe’s Virtual Tour can transform your retail operations, schedule a demo today.