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Store associates need to do more these days, from online order fulfillment to stock checking, and receiving products back-of-house.

What is the one device helping associates be more productive?

The smartphone.

Today, stores are using smartphone scanning applications to help store associates handle these operations tasks. Take Walmart for example., It announced a plan to give each of its 740,000 store associates a Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro.

As retail continues to evolve – and quickly – it’s more critical than ever to equip our people with the tools and technology they need for success.
Drew Holler, Senior Vice President, Walmart U.S. People Operations

This guide will show you how to get the most out of the smartphones your associates are used to using – whether you are going for a COPE (Corporate-Owned Personally-Enabled) or BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) strategy.

You will discover how to:

  • Upgrade an in-store picking app that uses smartphone features like haptic feedback.
  • Optimize shelf management – scan multiple items at once for faster workflows and efficiency.
  • Simplify stock information checking – with unmatched scanning speed and top accuracy.

Scandit Smart Data Capture can supercharge your store ops application – and make your employees’ jobs easier and your store work more effectively by shifting tedious tasks to technology.

Order picking - find, scan, and bag the right product

As any store associate will tell you, there’s more to order picking than putting products in a basket.

Pickers need to find and scan the correct product, put it in the right bag, scan that, and quickly move on to the next item. Often pickers are working on many different orders at the same time.

Smartphones make great order-picking tools, and a Scandit-powered smartphone is an ideal solution.

But the app needs to ensure this is error-free and enables the user to move through the list swiftly. It must provide:

  • Intuitive UX – you should make the most of the screen real-estate. Ensure it is simple and not cluttered with unnecessary buttons or features. MatrixScan Augmented Reality instantly highlights the correct item to pick. And Scandit SparkScan has an out-of-the-box UI that makes light-work of scan-heavy tasks like picking and packing.
  • Haptic feedback – some associates will be picking orders while using headphones or in a noisy environment. So don’t solely rely on audio to indicate a scan. SparkScan allows the picking app to alert the user via haptic feedback.
  • High-performance scanning – it is common for product barcodes to be obscured by light glare or creasing. SparkScan benefits from our unmatched scanning performance as well as having different modes to suit different situations. Such as a Target mode for hard to reach items and a Continuous mode for high-speed individual barcode scanning.

BOPIS - Highlight what’s right

Whether you call it ‘Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS)’ or ‘Click and Collect’, more customers are collecting online purchases from the store.

Frequently, once the products have been picked and packaged, they are taken to a collection point. At that point, the only key distinguishing factor may be a label and a barcode.

In many cases, the store associate will need to examine or scan each bag to find the right one. Scandit Smart Data Capture can simplify this whole process.

  • Pick the correct product on-screen – Scandit’s MatrixScan technology with Augmented Reality (AR) enables the store associate to scan multiple items at once and have the right product highlighted on the device’s screen.
  • ID scanning – do you need additional proof of purchase, or is this an age-restricted product? If so, Scandit’s ID-Scanning technology can quickly and accurately scan IDs to carry out age verification, name comparisons, and check for potential fakes.

Instant price verification

Store associates are continually adjusting product prices and promotions. And at times when inflation is high, extra scrutiny is placed on their accuracy.

So why not take advantage of the smartphone’s capabilities and make it do the heavy lifting? Scandit ShelfView is here to help. Here’s how it works:

  1. The shelf is scanned using mobile devices. Individual shelf labels including the barcode and price are captured.
  2. The SKU barcode is decoded to identify the correct product. Optical character recognition converts the printed text of the numerical price (e.g. $9.99) to a machine-readable format.
  3. The data points are sent to a cloud service where the correct ERP system prices are stored. Both prices are then compared.
  4. The store associate receives real-time feedback about the accuracy of the label with an AR overlay on their device.

The value of getting this right cannot be underestimated.
The time saved when checking and updating prices can equal big productivity gains. And correctly executed prices and promotions can boost sales and encourage customer loyalty.

Stock information checking you can trust

We have entered an age where retailers must know – at a store level – what is on the shelves so they can increase inventory availability and fulfill online orders.

So accessing accurate real-time data is critical.

  • Inventory levels – use augmented reality to identify how much inventory you have and what needs to be restocked.
  • Inventory workflows – from receiving goods to creating restocking lists and marking down items, the whole workflow will benefit from fast scanning and accurate data.

In the video below, we demonstrate how Scandit Smart Data Capture can deliver fast inventory insights.

Faster receiving and shipping

Retailers have had to deal with supply chain disruptions since the pandemic. Global bottlenecks and the breakout of war further added to the challenge.

Stocking retail stores is a collaborative effort between distribution centers, suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers. Accurate data must flow between them all to get it right.

When receiving goods, stores accept several pallets per week. The pallets are generally made of boxes that either contain boxed or loose items.

Standard processes, at a minimum, require the store associate to scan each box on the pallet and, if necessary, open each box and scan each item.

Well, not any more.

Using MatrixScan Count, store associates can speed up inventory receiving by 10x with no loss in accuracy.

  • Lightning-fast – scan and count multiple barcodes simultaneously to dramatically improve associate productivity.
  • Error-proof – intuitive real-time feedback ensures barcodes are never missed and accuracy is maintained across the business and beyond.

Conclusion - the device that is dedicated to all store ops tasks

Stores need to do more than ever, and the smartphone can be a store associate’s extra helper. But with Scandit Smart Data Capture, this can be taken to the next level. Saving them from tedious tasks and empowering them on others.

The use of smartphones for store operations is spreading – it is not just Walmart. Scandit has helped clients including Kroger, 7-Eleven, Sephora, Williams Sonoma, Carrefour and many others develop smartphone scanning applications for staff and customers.

Scandit’s smartphone scanning capability is unparalleled. In addition to high-performance single scanning, we also bring additional features like ID scanning, augmented reality, and simultaneous barcode scanning through our Smart Data Capture Platform.

matrixscan count retail shoes

So don’t just give your store associates the best tools to do the job – give them the one tool that will help them to do all of the jobs.

A smartphone – powered by Scandit Smart Data Capture.

Find Out How We Can Help

Explore Our Demo Apps

There is no better way to understand the power and functionality of Scandit Smart Data Capture than to try it out yourself. Test out several use cases here.

Case Study: Smart Data Capture Speeds Up Inventory Management

Forum Sport integrated Scandit Smart Data Capture into their employee app. It helped store associates streamline processes and improve efficiency.

Product: MatrixScan Count

Normally accuracy suffers when speed is increased. Not with MatrixScan Count. See how we make inventory counting and receiving lightning-fast and error-proof.