SpartanNash goes bigger with ‘Tally’ robot deployment

A successful pilot has grocery wholesaler/retailer SpartanNash stepping up its use of robotics to provide autonomous inventory management at selected supermarkets.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based SpartanNash said Wednesday that it’s rolling out the Simbe Robotics “Tally” shelf-scanning robot to 15 corporate-run stores under the Family Fare and Martin’s Super Market banners in Michigan and Indiana. The robot—tested at five of SpartanNash’s D&W Fresh Market stores (Breton Village, Cascade, Holland, Caledonia and Knapp’s Crossing, Michigan) starting last September—travels the aisles and scans thousands of products daily to track inventory status, pricing and placement.

“Tally’s speed, accuracy and automation enable our associates to save time in inventory tracking and spend more time on the floor serving store guests,” Tom Swanson, executive vice president of corporate retail at SpartanNash, said in a statement.

Roaming the aisles at the SpartanNash stores, the slimline Tally robots traverse the entire floor up to three times daily and capture data on 15,000 to 30,000 products per hour across departments, including from standard-fixture, variable shelving units to coolers and freezers. The technology checks products’ in-stock status and ensures that items are placed properly—and where customers expect them to be—and that items display the correct prices and promotional information.

The on-shelf intelligence collected by Tally’s regular scans provide accurate, frequent and actionable insights into product flow and in-store operations, significantly reducing out-of-stocks, according to San Francisco-based Simbe. On its website, Simbe said that Tally’s thrice-daily audit at 99% accuracy compares with a typical once-weekly manual audit at 65% accuracy.

Tally uses a suite of sensors to safely navigate around aisles, shoppers and store employees, and the robot returns to its charging dock on its own, Simbe reported. The robot works in tandem with Simbe’s cloud-powered software platform and APIs, which leverage computer vision and machine learning technology to give retailers a detailed picture of the state of their stores.

“When we first started working with SpartanNash, we knew this was a partner that recognized the powerful role technology can play in enhancing in-store operations and, as a result, the customer experience,” commented Simbe Robotics CEO and co-founder Brad Bogolea. “It has been so rewarding working together to further deploy our retail solution. We’re excited to continue providing powerful insights for SpartanNash to help improve the shopping experience for store guests and associates.”

Other grocery retailers that have deployed or are piloting Simbe’s Tally robot include BJ’s Wholesale Club, Wakefern Food Corp., Hy-Vee, Schnuck Markets, The Save Mart Cos. and Giant Eagle.

SpartanNash noted that the deployment of Tally robot reflects its ongoing investment in technologies that sharpen store operations and enhance the customer experience.

For example, the company cited a pilot of Afresh Technologies' fresh-food optimization platform that began late last year at 10 Family Fare supermarkets. The artificial intelligence-powered Afresh predictive ordering and inventory management solution is being used to improve fresh department operation at the Grand Rapids-area Family Fare stores, helping to reduce shrink and accelerate stock turns to provide shoppers with fresher product.

“SpartanNash is positively influencing our store guest experience through new-to-world technology innovations such as Tally to help us in our mission to deliver the ingredients for a better life,” stated Masiar Tayebi, executive vice president and chief strategy and information officer at SpartanNash.

Overall, SpartanNash operates 145 company-owned supermarkets—mainly under the Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets and D&W Fresh Market banners—in Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Other grocery retail banners include Supermercado Nuestra Familia and Forest Hills Foods/Ada Fresh Market.