Wakefern Food, the largest retailer-owned supermarket cooperative in the USA, has scaled up its use of in-store intelligent robots from California-based Simbe.

Wakefern owns and operates 23 ShopRite stores, and ShopRite Supermarkets (SRS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wakefern that operates 37 ShopRite stores in New York and New Jersey.

Both Inserra Supermarkets and SRS are implementing Simbe’s Tally AI-powered autonomous item-scanning robot that looks for out-of-stocks and misplaced items and helps shop workers focus more on customers.

After a four-month pilot using Tally for inventory tracking, SRS improved inventory operations by reducing low and out-of-stocks, and is now bringing Tally to all its stores.

“Because Tally alerts us each time there is a low-stock item or misplaced product on shelves, our retail teams are able to better focus on customers and the guest experience,” said Michael Schoendorf, vice president at SRS.

Inserra Supermarkets also recently expanded Simbe’s technology to all its ShopRite locations. One of the first Wakefern members to implement Tally in-store, Inserra has steadily grown its fleet and enhanced store inventory operations.

“Our team loves that Tally allows them to be more effective and focus more directly on caring for our customers,” said Jim Dorey, president of Inserra Supermarkets. “We have thousands of products across our aisles, and Tally helps us make sure we are staying in stock on the items our customers want.”

By working with Simbe, retailers gain insights into inventory and operations, driving accuracy and optimisation across all channels. Simbe operates in three continents globally and powers the largest number of retail banners in the USA, supplying automated shelf intelligence to retailers such as BJ’s Wholesale Club, Schnuck Markets and other Wakefern members. To date, nearly 70 ShopRite stores have implemented Tally.

“Wakefern’s success is a testament to their dedication to excellence and forward-thinking innovation, using data and capabilities that only Simbe provides to power best-in-class experiences for store teams and shoppers,” said Brad Bogolea, CEO of Simbe (www.simberobotics.com). “Once retailers know what’s happening inside of stores, they can optimise those locations in ways that fundamentally change their operating model and cost structure. We’re thrilled to continue growing our team and partnership with Wakefern, an exciting milestone on our journey to improve visibility across the retail ecosystem.”

From a small, local cooperative that began with eight grocery store owners, Wakefern Food (www2.wakefern.com) has grown into the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the USA. Founded in 1946, the cooperative comprises nearly 50 member families who today independently own and operate 365 supermarkets under the ShopRite, Fresh Grocer, Price Rite Marketplace, Fairway Market, Gourmet Garage, Dearborn Market and Di Bruno Bros banners in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia.