Local mobile business intelligence specialist RangeGate has fully automated Sainsbury`s home shopping environment and provided task management facilities to the UK and US food retailer. As a result, turnover from Internet shopping has more than doubled. The solution for the Sainsbury`s To You home shopping facility has been implemented at 50 stores across the UK, reaching some 70% of the UK population.
"Customer orders are allocated automatically to stock pickers at each store operating a Sainsbury`s To You service, and displayed on their handheld devices. In addition to the grocery items required, information on the handheld device is targeted according to the fastest and best route around the store, the skill set of the operator and the number of items that need to be dealt with at any time," says Fred Hoare, technical director at RangeGate`s South African office. The Sainsbury`s To You Web site is based on Blue Martini servers linked directly to a server running RangeGate`s INSTORE-EDGE, which in turn passes instructions to Symbol LRT 3840 and PDT 6840 handheld computers carried by stock pickers via a Symbol wireless network.
Once the order is ready to be delivered to the customer, INSTORE-EDGE automatically produces customer order reports detailing any relevant promotions, substitutions and changes from the requested order. Online shoppers receive this report together with their goods and a receipt.
"Orders were previously processed and fulfilled manually, with stock pickers working from printed lists of goods ordered. This system was very labour-intensive, heavily reliant on printed paperwork and prone to human error. Also, fulfilling each order took stock pickers longer, as the printed lists did not have optimal routing information," says Hoare.
Mark Roberts, project manager for Sainsbury`s To You, says: "Roll-outs in new stores have been very easy to implement; we`ve been surprised ourselves at how easy it`s been. And in operation INSTORE-EDGE is very robust and stable - it`s a key element of the Sainsbury`s To You service."
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For over 12 years RangeGate has focused on leveraging mobile technologies to give its customers a competitive-edge - a mobile edge. The company helps its customers take advantage of the anywhere, any time, real-time capability of wireless technologies in order to optimise business processes and accelerate return on investment on traditional systems. RangeGate`s Mobile-Edge solutions encompass the mobilisation of corporate sales and field services, the wireless optimisation of warehouse control, logistics control, cargo and freight handling and in-store fulfilment. Over 60% of RangeGate`s team focus on software development and systems integration. Clients include Delta, Pick `n Pay, Makro, Daimler-Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Cadbury, Johnson & Johnson, World Bank, Orange, Littlewoods, Sainsbury`s, ASDA and British Post. RangeGate is 76%-owned by Datatec, the Johannesburg Securities Exchange-listed global networking company.
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