How Cashierless Technology Improves Inventory Availability

Zippin’s checkout-free platform doesn’t just improve the front of the store, it helps enhance the entire store’s operations and enables retailers to achieve more efficient inventory management. 

Retailers make money by providing products to customers at the moment when people are ready to buy. When customers can’t find the item they want, or when retailers’ shelves and stocking processes are disorganized or delayed, this creates pain points for shoppers and retailers alike. 

A 2018 survey from IHL Group found that retailers worldwide are losing $1 trillion per year in sales due to out-of-stocks - including empty shelves or inability to find an item. Better store stocking data can help retailers avoid out-of-stocks, reduce waste, streamline their supply chain, and understand their customers’ needs. 

A recent Forbes article identified AI-based inventory management systems, data analytics for cost and safety management, and AI-driven operations as part of the biggest retail tech trends for 2021. These types of technology are all part of Zippin’s cashierless platform, which helps retailers get a clearer view of their inventory and make better decisions about inventory management. 

Here are a few ways that the Zippin platform gives retailers better visibility into their store operations and inventory. 

Newly Launched Zippin Crew App

A key feature of Zippin’s platform is our recently launched Zippin Crew app. As the head of Zippin’s engineering team, I’m proud of the work that our developers have done to anticipate the daily challenges of retailers and store managers, and help resolve their pain points with inventory management and restocking.

Zippin offers two apps: the Zippin app for consumers, which shoppers can use to enter Zippin-powered stores and pay for purchases, and the new “Zippin Crew” app for retailers. The Zippin Crew app is designed to help retailers get total visibility of their inventory and make better-informed decisions about how to manage their stores. 

The Zippin Crew App provides a few key features to help retailers get a clearer view of their stores: 

• Store planogram: The app organizes items based on where they are stocked in each store’s planogram, a visual representation of the store’s layout for merchandising purposes. See which items are stocked in which locations, how many of each item are there, and more. 
• Item availability: The app shows which items are available on which shelves. You can also find which items have been stocked in the wrong locations. 
• Understocked items: The app delivers tracking and constant counts of which items are getting close to being out of stock - showing you which items and what quantity is remaining on the shelf. 
• Alerts for out-of-stock items: The app delivers push notifications for out-of-stock items and items that have their stock fall below a certain number (such as 3 or 5 items).  
• View restocking history: See how recently the items were stocked. 
• Scanning and locating items in-store: The Zippin Crew app allows store crew to scan product barcodes and locate each item within the store, down to the specific shelf.  

The Zippin Crew app can be used for a single store or for multiple store locations and is available on the App Store and Google Play.

Zippin Retailer Dashboard 

Zippin also provides the Zippin Retailer Dashboard to help retailers manage their stores. The Dashboard offers most of the same features as the mobile app, and also contains additional capabilities, such as:

• Real-time Shopping Activity: See the customer purchases taking place in your stores.
• Catalog and Inventory: Planogram, products being sold in the store, where those products are, current stock, and more.
• Analytics: Get precise information on the shopping behavior, such as how long customers were in the store, when customers enter and exit the store, top selling products, repeat visits, and more.   

Perhaps the biggest benefit of the Zippin Retailer Dashboard is the insights it delivers. Retailers can use the customer information and product data from the Dashboard to get e-commerce-style insights about customer behavior in-store, which items are most in-demand, which items are slow to sell, and more. 

Zippin’s retail customers and partners often mention how checkout-free technology is not just helping them run a more efficient store, but it’s helping them improve their overall inventory management. Better information and visibility about the store’s performance and customer behavior can help retailers offer a wider variety of products, anticipate demand, and restock shelves faster. 

Ready to learn more about how Zippin’s cashierless technology can help retailers see their inventory more clearly and improve store performance? Request a meeting with us.