Redefining Fresh Execution: How Simbe Delivers Consistency, Visibility, and Impact in Grocery’s Strategic Frontier
Fresh departments are the heart of the grocery store. They’re where loyalty is won, baskets are built, and brick-and-mortar grocers set themselves apart. In fact, produce, prepared foods, meat, deli, and bakery now drive over 40% of total grocery sales, and nearly as much of online revenue.
And shoppers still buy groceries in-store twice as often as they do online, a clear reminder that execution on the floor, especially in fresh, directly influences loyalty and sales.
But as the perimeter becomes grocery’s growth engine, it also exposes the industry's most persistent execution gaps. With high turnover, fast-moving inventory, and limited labor, even the best-run grocers struggle to maintain availability, freshness, and presentation. And when execution slips, so does shopper trust.
That’s where Simbe comes in.
Why Fresh is Hard Yet Crucial to Get Right
Fresh execution is uniquely difficult. Unlike the center store, conditions on the perimeter shift by the hour. A missed rotation or delayed replenishment doesn’t just impact margins, it disrupts the shopper experience and leads to waste.
- 1 in 3 shoppers say produce quality determines where they shop
- 42% of total grocery sales now come from fresh
- 41% of online grocery revenue is tied to perimeter categories
- 6.6% is the average shrink rate across fresh departments, the highest in the store
Fresh isn’t just a department. It’s a performance center, and important to consistently get right.
Built for Retail, Proven in Fresh
Simbe’s multimodal Store Intelligence™ platform digitizes fresh zones, providing real-time visibility, proactive alerts, and shelf-level insights that empower teams to act fast. From quick-moving grab-and-go to prepared foods and produce, Simbe replaces reactive routines with coordinated execution.
Here’s how grocers are using Simbe to ensure availability, freshness, and presentation across the perimeter.
1. Maintain availability during peak sales periods
Challenge: Fast sellers like rotisserie chicken or cut fruit often sell out during rush hours, hurting sales and satisfaction.
Solution: Tally Spot delivers high-frequency scans of fast-turn areas, helping teams plan production, prep smarter, and replenish ahead of demand.
“We use Simbe daily to validate issues like zero sales on high-velocity items—rotisserie chicken, bananas, ground beef—so we can catch them fast.”
—Senior Director of Fresh Operations, Regional Grocer
2. Keep packaged fresh items stocked and shoppable
Challenge: Packaged goods like bagged salads and single-serve juices are easy to miss during manual audits.
Solution: Tally autonomously scans these areas daily, identifying low and out-of-stocks before they impact the shelf. That means fewer gaps, better sales, and a consistently shoppable presentation.
3. Rotate inventory proactively to reduce shrink
Challenge: Aging stock, inconsistent rotation, and over ordering all contribute to waste.
Solution: RFID-enabled Tally Spot alerts teams to items nearing expiration. Associates can rotate, mark down, or remove aging products before they spoil, helping reduce waste by up to 88%.
4. Assess execution remotely across stores
Challenge: Multi-store leaders lack visibility into daily execution across perimeter departments.
Solution: Simbe Virtual Tour enables HQ teams to “walk” the store remotely via 360-degree views confirming product availability, merchandising standards, and seasonal displays without traveling.
“We used to walk the club or chase photos. Now, with Simbe, I can spot-check departments remotely, especially when stores are busy, stretched, or during night visits. It gives us a faster way to validate freshness and availability.”
—Senior Director of Regional Operations, National Wholesaler
5. Identify patterns and drive smarter decisions
Challenge: Manual checks show the moment, but not the trend.
Solution: Aisle Views deliver time-lapse shelf imagery to track availability, movement, and execution over time. For example, if marinated meats consistently sell out before dinner, teams can adjust prep schedules to meet demand and avoid missed sales.
Simbe’s capabilities—Tally, Tally Spot, Virtual Tour, and Aisle Views— solve specific fresh challenges, allowing grocers to deploy what’s needed based on department, format, and staff.
“What's cool is that Tally can go around every area of the store, not just the center store, you can look at produce, deli, meat and see what our in-stock conditions are in those areas.”
- Chris Williamson, Former VP Operations, Corporate Retail, SpartanNash
Fresh Isn’t Just a Department, It’s a Strategic Priority
For physical grocery stores, fresh is the revenue engine, the trip generator, and the key differentiator in a digital-first market. It’s the highest-growth, most complex, and essential part of the store. And it can’t be managed with outdated tools or guesswork.
With Simbe, retailers make fresh measurable, repeatable, and profitable delivering consistent execution that shoppers notice, trust, and return for.
Because when fresh runs well, shoppers notice. And when it doesn’t, they leave.
If you’re ready to turn fresh execution into a competitive advantage, we’re here to help.
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