How to Manage
the Store of the Future
a Guidebook
A lot gets written about the Store of the Future and many of those thought pieces tend to be full of shiny new technology and industry buzzwords.
But what’s often lost in those reviews of new AI products, personalized marketing, robotics and other buzzy technology is a real-world view of how to manage it all.
How do you execute on the store of the future and generate buy-in and adoption from your front-line team workers that will be interacting with your customers and how they experience this technology on a daily basis?
Because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. Any conversation about the Store of the Future should begin with the following question: “How does this impact the customer?”
And the truth is, that the shiniest new toys aren’t always the most practical. Store innovations are great, but if you can’t manage them effectively, the impact on the customer is lost.
"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”
- Sam Walton
Intro
1. The Customer Experience
3. Store Operations
2. Your Equipment
4. Sales and Marketing
5. Sustainable Solutions
About Hussmann
In-store experience is still king.
The Customer Experience
There is a lot of noise about how traditional supermarket design will change in the future. One point is clear—to today’s consumer, “fresh” still matters. And when we talk about fresh in supermarkets, refrigeration inevitably comes into play.
The key is in using space in the right way while creating an engaging merchandising solution. Ultimately, equipment flexibility is a critical design consideration for the Store of the Future.
Options like the SIM case provide exceptional visibility and can be moved around the store to feature a variety of products.
The Importance of Doors
And no conversation about your refrigerated cases is complete without mentioning doors, among the items customers touch most often in your store.
Hussmann partners with Styleline to provide door and glass solutions for merchandisers and beer caves.
Doors Should Be:
Esthetically Pleasing
Easy to Clean
Able to Highlight the Product
Taking Food Safety Seriously
When you supply refrigerated merchandisers to more than 250,000 supermarkets in the U.S., you take food safety seriously. Providing solutions to keep food safe within your store is fundamental to our mission. Hussmann cases and systems are rigorously tested in extreme temperature and retail conditions to ensure they are built to last.
This means you need to be nimble with price changes to remain competitive. At the same time, your customers must be able to trust the prices they see on the shelves. Pricing integrity is key.
To accomplish this, you must find operational efficiencies while also prioritizing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Today’s consumer is highly price sensitive in our current inflationary state and has been since the pandemic.
3. Store Operations
PWC found 68% of consumers are actively seeking the best deals before making purchase decisions .
57 percent of customers are losing faith over pricing inconsistencies and inaccuracies and only 1 in 5 would shop again at the same store after being overcharged .
68%
57%
Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs)
Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) are revolutionizing the retail landscape. They offer more efficient pricing capabilities that enhance operational efficiency and the customer experience. Retailers employing ESLs report a reduction in pricing errors that minimizes customer frustration. With their ability to facilitate real-time updates and improve pricing accuracy, ESLs are emerging as a pivotal technology that not only streamlines operations, but significantly contributes to customer satisfaction and loyalty.
But efficiency isn’t just about pricing. Increasingly, it refers to who is in our stores and how they shop.
That’s why it’s so important when planning your store of the future and your implementation of Electronic Shelf Labels to partner with a team that understands the retail landscape. And will partner with you to execute a plan that maximizes your return by incorporating ESL into your other efforts. That’s exactly what Aperion by Hussmann focuses on with our clients. Providing high-quality hardware but building a stronger partnership so that you can take full advantage of everything ESLs have to offer.
You can’t afford to overload your checkout area or hinder the regular flow of foot traffic.
There are effective solutions to improve the flow of shopper traffic in-store and improve the experience. An example is pick-to-light technology. This allows customers to create shopping lists ahead of time and easily locate items on the shelf by flashing a unique color when they approach the next product on the list.
And as you look at customer satisfaction, the e-grocery space continues to evolve. One thing has become clear: creating improved staging areas is critical to creating an efficient operation.
Efficiency benefits more than your labor team. It also creates an enjoyable visit for your customers. That is a differentiator in the market and leads to greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Hussmann offers staging solutions that make customer pickup easy. Learn more about those solutions here!
Improving the Flow
2. Your Equipment
Equipment is a large capital investment for any store today as well as for the Store of the Future.
The quality and reliability of equipment are critical for running your business and for maintaining food safety in the refrigeration space.
As we navigate current and pending regulations, pay attention to the energy efficiency of equipment, as well as the maintenance of key equipment such as carts, checkout areas and refrigeration.
You will want to partner with providers who have a name for quality and reliability, and who will extend that to future products and refrigerants as well as legacy equipment. In the technician and service space, for years it’s been a lot of the same:
It’s time to improve how we manage equipment.
This ‘break-fix’ approach leads to stress, lost product, and higher-priced fixes.
Spot a problem, call a technician.
Tools like StoreConnect connect your refrigerators to your technician. Our management tool and predictive analytics can help your systems run more smoothly, reducing emergency truck rolls and saving you money.
To take advantage of connected technology like StoreConnect and maximize the efficiency of all your equipment, it’s critical to partner with service and installation providers who can manage your projects from end-to-end. With over 1300 technicians in the field and 118 years as a leading refrigeration provider, Hussmann offers an unmatched level or expertise to keep your equipment running smoothly.
But it’s not just the equipment we see on the store floor. It’s also important to consider the systems that are driving your store.
With legislation and regulations, the systems that power your refrigeration are crucial.
It’s reported that the amount of refrigerant a single supermarket emits into the atmosphere is equivalent to the emissions of over 300 cars.
With low-GWP refrigerants like CO2, Propane and A2Ls, you can significantly reduce your Global Warming Potential while keeping your food safe and fresh.
And companies like Hussmann are leading the way with a variety of solutions to help retailers reach their ESG goals and comply with regulations by offering a portfolio of options ready to work with CO2 and Propane under their Evolve Technologies banner.
One solution is the new transcritical CO2 Rack.
And the Krack water cooled monoblock that is ideal for walk-in cooler solutions.
And your equipment goes beyond what powers it and what keeps it running smoothly, it also matters how to best merchandise your product.
Hussmann prioritizes pack out into our design so that you can hold as much product as possible to eliminate the need for more regular restocking. One great example is our new Insight Reach In Merchandiser.
Hussmann can also create custom merchandisers tailored to your unique store needs—from bakery and deli to seafood and cheese departments, the specialty team can meet your design specifications. We also have solutions designed for every department in your store, starting with driving sales in the produce department.
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Learn About New EPA
Refrigerant Regulations
The Customer Experience
Store
Operations
Your
Equipment
Sales &
Marketing
Sustainable
Solutions
300+
From AI pricing models to self-service kiosks to smart-carts and more, it’s hard to tell what’s a fad and what’s here to stay.
In our experience, there are key tenets that will continue to be profitable for retailers within their buildings.
New technology is continuing to empower creative opportunities to drive sales in-store.
4. Sales and Marketing
a. Never overshadow your product.
At the end of the day, your customers are there for the product you carry. The product should be enhanced by your technology, not overshadowed by it. All sizzle, but no steak, is not a winning proposition for a supermarket.
In the refrigeration world, we’ve set out to develop merchandisers over the past 118 years that do just that...feature the product. We make it easier for your customers to view the products they want and make the purchase decision easier.
A great way to connect your products to what your customers care about is to take advantage of the shelf edge in creative ways. Adding digital signage and video to your shelf can help catch your customer’s eye and draw them into a new product.
b. Get creative with the space you have available.
400%
Digital Displays Capture
More Views
Than Static Displays
One of the biggest sales strategies for retailers in recent years is the growth of promotional or loyalty apps. Driving the adoption and use of these apps can create massive customer retention. In 2022 grocers attributed 56% of sales to loyalty programs and projected that percentage will climb to 63% by 2025 .
c. Integrate your systems together for greater impact.
Projected That
of Sales Will Be Attributed to Loyalty Programs by 2025
63%
Despite the vast attention paid to digital and web, don’t underestimate how impactful the physical world can be to drive adoption online.
Indeed, research from the Internation Council of Shopping Centers found that opening a new location increases traffic to the retailer’s website by 37% the following quarter .
To drive more loyalty program or app sign-ups throughout your stores, the dynamic ability of digital signage is unparalleled.
Integrate your Members Only discounts or promotional coupons automatically on your tags and video boards. Or sync your app to flash on a tag for a shopper trying to locate a product. These are examples of creating a better experience while continuing to drive revenue.
Whether it’s due to consumer trends, the regulatory environment, or a combination of factors, you must highlight sustainability when you discuss managing the Store of the Future.
Regulations call for a future switch to low-GWP refrigerants, and the equipment we manufacture in this country must be built for it. We’ve invested in building out our Evolve Technologies to be a leader in creating systems and equipment that is ready for natural and synthetic refrigerants with low-GWP.
Sustainability is no longer a consideration. It’s a must.
5. Sustainable Solutions
Evolve Technologies
Video
WATCH
Evolve is part of Hussmann’s strategic priorities to support its ever-growing, comprehensive portfolio of solutions including plans for future, sustainable low GWP options. Learn more about Hussmann’s commitment to a better world though retail sustainability and Evolve Technologies™.
(Progressive Grocer)
(Intel)
Video
WATCH
The AIM Act requires a phasedown of HFC refrigerants and has a cap of refrigerants with a GWP of more than 300. Solutions like CO2 (GWP: 1) and R290, or Propane (GWP: 3) are ready-made to be compatible with a wide array of refrigeration systems and cases in our portfolio. You can read more about our low-GWP catalog here.
While the AIM Act and Evolve touch on new equipment, it’s important to consider how you manage your legacy equipment. Enter refrigeration management systems like StoreConnect.
StoreConnect can do a lot to extend the life of your equipment by analyzing key functions between your systems and equipment which moves your equipment management to be more proactive and cost-effective rather than reactive to emergency break-fix, but it can also automatically detect refrigerant leaks and confirm when the right leak has been fixed.
Automatic Leak Detections like StoreConnect have been so impactful at reducing leaks that the current regulations call for putting systems like StoreConnect on refrigeration equipment with a charge of 1500 lbs. or more.
Ultimately, StoreConnect helps build energy efficiency in your machines by finding and alerting you to problems before they become a drain on your resources.
What's Next?
The future has come and as things continue to evolve, we’ll be here with our retail partners to guide them through the changing landscape.
Curious about how to prepare your business for the next age of food retailing?
Contact us today to discuss how we can help meet your needs
And visit us at Hussmann.com to view the latest products and services we offer.
The supermarket industry is in a period of transition.
For more than 100 years, Hussmann Corporation has been a leader in providing innovative display cases, refrigeration systems and aftermarket services for grocers and convenience stores. Hussmann, a subsidiary of Panasonic, promises to continuously provide the most customer-focused solutions in the food retailing industry. From display cases for supermarkets to entire refrigeration systems including Aperion™ and StoreConnect™, Hussmann continues to drive innovation and technology in food retailing. Customers look to Hussmann as a strategic trusted partner to navigate the complex and ever-changing regulatory requirements with smarter, energy efficient, low-GWP refrigeration solutions—reducing their energy consumption and carbon emissions. For more information about Hussmann, please visit www.hussmann.com.
Over the past 3 years, Hussmann has hosted a roadshow each summer bringing the latest in food retailing solutions directly to retailers. But it’s not just about showing off products, after logging over 42,000 miles and 2,000 customer visits the company has learned a lot about what matters to retailers when it comes to implementing new technology and positively impacting your customers.
How to Win – and Win Back – Shoppers With Loyalty | Progressive Grocer
ICSC 2022 State of the Industry Outlook | ICSC
gcis-placemate-december-2021.pdf (pwc.com)
TotalRetail
Analogue to Automated: Retail in the Connected Age - Total Retail (mytotalretail.com)
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