Simbe’s Club Solution Helps Technology-Forward BJs’ Wholesale Club Deliver Stellar Member & Team Experiences
The membership-based wholesale club chain is harnessing Simbe’s advanced automation and computer vision technology to make business operations more efficient while delivering outsized value to its members and member teams. In doing so, BJ’s is poised to grab a larger market share in its retail niche.
90%
fewer pricing & promotion errors
60%
less out-of-stock items
50%
shorter e-commerce fulfillment
BJ’s the Retail Innovator
BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (BJ’s) is a leading operator of membership clubs in the Eastern United States with a mission of delivering significant value and customer experience to its members.
Operating nearly 300 clubs in 18 states, BJ’s clubs provide a curated assortment of grocery, general merchandise, gasoline, and ancillary services to offer a differentiated shopping experience that is further enhanced by its omnichannel offerings.
Though BJ’s is rated as a top wholesale club, it aspires to capture larger market share and edge out the competition by leaning on technology, per analyst reports and earnings calls.
Used by the most retail banners worldwide
“Simbe’s technology helps us easily locate inventory, automate tasks and identify low-stock items to improve execution. Tally is providing us with powerful insights based on real-time data.”
Jeff Desroches
Former EVP & COO
Traditional Challenges in Club Operations
Krystyna Kostka Senior Vice President, Operations, BJ’s Wholesale Club
“What’s really interesting about today’s retail environment is we need to be able to find inventory for all our club members, making sure it’s in stock while still running the store in a traditional format,”
To deliver the personalized, reliable club experience that its members value – and the work experience that empowers BJs’ member teams, BJ’s must master seamless store operations.
As Scott Schmadeke, Senior Vice President, Operations, at BJ’s says, “dealing with inventory is really about making sure our members have the product available for sale on a regular basis.” Given the scale and turnover of club inventory, this charter involves monitoring the availability, location, and price integrity of thousands of SKUs both in-club and online.
When evaluating in-store technology, wholesale clubs need to meet the following criteria:
Accurately track inventory location
Because clubs like BJ’s sell bulk products, they are usually structured on taller warehouse-grade racks and tagged with bigger barcodes. New or excess inventory is placed in various locations, and pallets are organized in available space, making inventory management complex.
Decrease out-of-stock (OOS) rates
As paying club members expect the items that they need to be in-stock even more than the average shopper, maintaining high on-shelf availability is critical — as is ensuring items do not languish in store rooms.
Ensure price integrity
The prices that members pay at checkout must accurately reflect what’s posted in the aisle and sales flyers – both in-club and on the website, across thousands of SKUs.
Seamlessly integrate omnichannel operations
Uniformity in prices and skilled inventory management also matter in integrating e-commerce and brick-and-mortar operations. Online inventory and prices must match what’s in store.
Keep team members front and center
Because clubs sell goods in bulk, team members have to safely maneuver large pallets, which can be stored on high steel racks. And when fulfilling online purchases, specific guidance about where items are located can significantly reduce the time it takes to complete an order.
The Solution
Staying true to its commitment of leaning on technology to optimize each and every aspect of club operations, BJ’s put out an RFP to test-drive several inventory management technologies.
Only Simbe had a long track record of satisfied retail customers. Only Simbe had delivered quantifiable ROI across e-commerce, merchandising, supply chain and store operations – and only Simbe’s Club Solution offered the technical and service capabilities needed for BJs' unique store environment.
Simbe’s solution works throughout the store environment, including packaged goods, meat, dairy, frozen, beauty, alcohol, and more. The unmatched precision of Simbe’s computer vision, which is captured by its autonomous robot Tally, reaches 150% farther and higher than any existing solution, analyzing products and price tags on even the tallest club shelves. This comprehensive data powers business-critical intelligence that improves inventory management and enhances members’ and club teams’ day-to-day experiences.
Supply chain and inventory management
Simbe’s system scans shoppable areas to audit if products are in-stock, percentage filled, or need re-stocking. Simbe’s pallet detection and depth data capabilities also scan upper steel inventory for re-stocking, track time-in-steel for inventory stock, and locate open storage areas where new inventory can be placed.
Operations
Simbe’s virtual store walk-through and aisle time machine capabilities give office teams and club managers unprecedented, real-time visibility into store conditions. Computer vision and AI-enabled shelf analytics pinpoint trends across their fleet to improve overall merchandising, ensure price and promotion execution using state-of-the-art optical character recognition (OCR), significantly reduce out-of-stocks, and maintain planogram compliance.
E-commerce fulfillment
Simbe’s pick path optimization enables store teams to fulfill online orders as efficiently as possible, a valuable tool in large retail environments. Simbe’s platform generates the most efficient pick path for each unique order, directing associates to the optimal route and reducing fulfillment times by up to 50% across customers.
Pallet Optimization
Simbe offers capabilities that track items’ time-in-steel and optimize pallet selection. When analyzing available stock, Simbe’s system
selects pallets with products closest to expiration and identifies
potential hazards.
The Outcomes
Leveraging the Simbe Club Solution, the retailer is systematically working toward a superior member experience and heftier market share. BJs team members also enjoy having more time to serve customers.
Reduced OOS Rates
Insights from Simbe Intelligence triggers AI-powered alerts that speed replenishment and reordering when inventory counts are running low. Tally allows BJ’s to fill out-of-stocks quicker, Schmadeke says.
Inventory Management
BJ’s now has a stronger handle on in-store & backroom inventory and real-time & multi-day visibility to virtual stores. “Tally is an amazing robot. Tally allows us with computer vision to be able to see exactly where our stock is every single day in every place in the store,” Kostka says.
Improved Team Members Experience
Simbe’s platform recommends optimized pick paths for member teams to follow, which also help restock and locate products faster. Simbe’s technology also flags precariously positioned items and advises which products to bring to the floor first, based on expiry dates.
Fewer Pricing Discrepancies
Prices at BJ’s are accurate and consistent across all channels and fliers. Schmadeke is grateful that Tally helps identify any price errors throughout the club.
90%
fewer pricing & promotion errors
60%
less out-of-stock items
50%
shorter e-commerce fulfillment
Future Plans
As BJ’s considers a myriad of future use cases for Simbe’s store intelligence, BJ’s President and CEO expressed excitement about robotics’ potential on the NRF mainstage in 2024: “We will continue to lean into investments that make our business more efficient and convenient while delivering outsized value to our members.”
Indeed, Simbe’s store intelligence can serve as a data layer on which much in-store technology can be built across e-commerce, merchandising, supply chain, planogram use cases and more.