Johannesburg, 11 Dec 2001
Pick `n Pay`s retail division has chosen In-Store-Edge, RangeGate`s wireless in-store picking solution, to power its e-fulfilment service, Pick `n Pay Home Shopping.
The deal was signed shortly after RangeGate`s successful implementation of a similar solution for Sainsbury`s in the UK. Since that date, RangeGate has completed the initial roll-out of In-Store-Edge, now in full operation at selected Pick `n Pay stores countrywide.
Pick `n Pay Home Shopping is proving very popular, with over 25 000 registered online shoppers, 10 500 of whom registered in Johannesburg in six weeks. Pick `n Pay`s FaerieGlen store is now handling over R1 million worth of Home Shopping orders a month, while Home Shopping now accounts for some 20% of store turnover at Pick `n Pay`s Lonehill store.
"We wanted a system that would make our Home Shopping division a productive sales channel and provide our online customers with true added value," says Pick `n Pay Home Shopping GM Adrian Naud'e. "Our requirement was for an automated picking process that would ensure accuracy and efficiency, and reduce the number of working hours required to fulfil orders."
In-Store-Edge is based on RangeGate`s in-house developed task execution and workload management system, Task-Gate. This intelligent software operates in conjunction with Symbol handheld scanner terminals linked via a Symbol wireless network. It allows orders placed online by customers to be picked at the home shopping fulfilment store closest to them. It intelligently automates the picking process to ensure maximum efficiency for pickers involved. Customers are assured that that their orders are fulfilled with the same degree of accuracy and care that they themselves would exercise, and Pick `n Pay is assured its resources are optimally used throughout the fulfilment process.
"The system has allowed Pick `n Pay to establish its e-commerce activities and maintain its position as a progressive retailer," says RangeGate CEO Andrew Fosbrook. "In-Store-Edge provides all the performance and accuracy benefits that can be achieved by combining auto identification and radio frequency technologies."
Home Shopping offers customers a convenient way to shop for groceries over the Internet, by phone or by fax. The groceries are delivered from actual Pick `n Pay stores that have been designated as "home shopping fulfilment stores" located in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Bloemfontein, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.
Task-Gate, In-Store-Edge`s intelligent software engine, dynamically controls the allocation of multiple customer orders to individual pickers or shoppers. It dynamically optimises the shopper`s routing around the store to ensure an order is assembled during a "one-walk shop" - a single circuit of all the store`s aisles without any re-tracing. Real-time barcoding techniques ensure accuracy, with the pickers confirming product codes, eliminating the need for time consuming secondary checks.
In-Store-Edge ensures customers` orders arrive in the same condition as they left the store. Orders are picked and packed on the day of delivery and perishable goods are picked last. Delivery notes reflect goods ordered that were not in stock, and what substitute products have been delivered in their place. Customers can choose not to receive substitutes for selected products.
"We chose RangeGate`s In-Store-Edge solution because its Task-Gate software engine is a modular system that we could adapt to our needs," says Naud'e. "Other solutions did not allow us to have the automatic lower price selection capability of Task-Gate, nor did they give us its invoicing capability, both of which enhance our service to our customers.
"In-Store-Edge has given us an edge over our competitors - an advanced e-fulfilment capability that makes our customers` lives a little easier."
Another aspect of In-Store-Edge is how much more economical its in-store based fulfilment is than previous-generation e-fulfilment solutions. As Naud'e remarks: "Although our home shopping has gone online later than its competitors, we believe we have an optimum system in place that will improve customer retention. Pick `n Pay has always focused on innovative retail technology solutions. We can now offer our customers an online shopping facility that is in line with the most sophisticated e-fulfilment systems available worldwide, and economical to run and maintain."
"As is usual with RangeGate`s `Edge` solutions, we have provided Pick `n Pay with a total solution, incorporating the right hardware, RangeGate`s own tailored software, the business consulting services to design the system, integration services to install it and a comprehensive service level agreement to ensure all components are supported countrywide," concludes Fosbrook.
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