Smart & Final Makes Operations Investment Chainwide

With the goal of improving the communication of real-time and important tasks to its grocery warehouse stores each day, Smart & Final has deployed the Zenput platform across its 256 locations. The platform is designed to help ensure new initiatives and core operating procedures are effectively executed in every store across a range of areas, including customer and store employee safety, store cleanliness and seasonal promotions.

“We want all of our customers to have a great shopping experience every time they visit a Smart & Final, and an important part of that is making sure our employees have clear direction,” said Sean Mahony, SVP of store operations for Smart & Final, in a statement. “Zenput helps us to be agile and it ensures that our brand standards are consistently being met.”

Smart & Final’s store managers use Zenput to guide work activities such as performing daily status meetings, complying with safety checklists, verifying seasonal promotional displays and ensuring shelves are stocked throughout the day. Whether in-store or virtual, district leaders can check in on each store’s progress and flag tasks as needed, providing guidance on where to focus resources, explained Zenput. The platform also provides a solution to verify that new or updated procedures were completed correctly and on time. 

Related:Inside the Newest Smart & Final Extra

“With stores operating across geographies and ranging market conditions, rolling out new strategies and maintaining consistency across a grocery operation can be challenging,” said Vladik Rikhter, CEO of Zenput. “Our work with Smart & Final and other customers shows that grocery operators are innovating to adapt quickly and ensure that every store is moving in the right direction.”

Supporting 50,000 locations in over 40 countries, Zenput works with restaurant, retail and other multiunit operators, such as Chipotle, P.F. Chang’s, Domino’s and 7-Eleven, which use its platform to automate how operating procedures, public health and food safety protocols, and other key initiatives are rolled out and enforced.

Smart & Final, Commerce, Calif., operates stores in a variety of sizes. Its larger format stores, Smart & Final Extra, combine a membership-free warehouse store with traditional grocery offerings such as farm fresh produce and natural and organic options to provide a one-stop shop.