Kelly Wilson, Baskin-Robbins franchisee, opens the doors to the brand’s newest location at 2620 Simcoe Street North in Oshawa, Ontario, November 2021.
Baskin-Robbins recently opened a new shop in Oshawa, Ontario, its 106th location in Canada, as the brand continues to expand in the Canadian marketplace with big plans next for the Vancouver area.
Natalie Joseph, Senior International Field Marketing Manager for Baskin-Robbins Canada, said the company for 2022, 2023 and beyond has brought on a franchisee who is going to be developing in the British Columbia market, predominantly in the Greater Vancouver Area.
“This gentleman has just signed on a 15 store development over the next two to three years and the first shop is going to break ground in March with a planned opening of April or May,” she said.
Baskin Robbins at Village by the Grange (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
“Then in Ontario we have a franchisee that is committed to opening 11 stores in the Toronto area, actually more in Mississauga. He’s just opening his second store of the 11, it’s already to go, they’re just waiting to get the green light from the city. That is tentatively opening the beginning of this month or the start of January.”
Currently, the brand has five locations in Vancouver.
“Years ago Vancouver was a much stronger market for us where we had a number of traditional stores and that just kind of went to the wayside over the years. I really don’t know why but we’re looking at it almost like a new market entry where there’s so much potential. That’s why we’re refocusing on the Vancouver market,” said Joseph.
“We just recently did this with Ontario as well. We opened it up. Invited franchisees to explore different locations, different areas we’re interested in growing and developing in.”
Image: Baskin-Robbins Canada
Image: Baskin-Robbins Canada
“We accomplished that. Now that we’ve secured a franchisee that is opening up 11 stores in Ontario that’s great. Now our focus is on Vancouver.”
The first Baskin-Robbins in Canada was opened 50 years ago this year in downtown Toronto at Eglinton Avenue and Bathurst Street and it is still open today.
Some may wonder how an ice cream shop can be successful in a northern environment such as Canada with its cold climate for several months of the year.
Joseph said she is often asked this question. The general mindset is lining up ice cream with warm summer evenings or that sunny Sunday afternoon on the way to the park.
“I have to say that when I joined the team almost eight years I too asked the question: How do our shops remain open through the winter months? Baskin-Robbins was a company that was born out of California so it sort of makes sense year-round,” said Joseph.
Image: Baskin-Robbins Canada
“What I quickly learned is that our cake business always has been thriving and January and September believe it or not are our two busiest cake months . . . What I learned quickly is that people still have birthdays. People still celebrate. People still want ice cream regardless of what the weather is like outside.”
Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by two ice cream enthusiasts who shared a dream to create an innovative ice cream shop that would be a neighbourhood gathering place for families. Celebrating its 50th year in Canada, Baskin-Robbins operates 106 locations spread across Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia.
More than 300 million people around the world visit Baskin-Robbins each year to sample from the more than 1,300 flavour creations available in its ice cream library, as well as enjoy its full array of frozen treats.
Montreal-based home furnishings retailer Bouclair has unveiled a new store concept in the city’s trendy Griffintown area. Called Gallery B, the store aims to integrate into the community with monthly activations from local artists.
The 10,000 square foot storefront at 1040 Wellington Street (corner of Peel Street) is smaller than typical Bouclair stores. Owner, President and CEO Peter Goldberg said that each month the new space will feature new artists’ creations that will be featured exclusively in the new Griffintown Gallery B store. Until January 2022, visitors will be able to observe the works of art students from Concordia University in the store.
Bouclair Galerie B (Image: Maxime Frechette )Click for Interactive Google Map
Peter Goldberg
Art is a part of the Griffintown neighbourhood and with that, Bouclair added the largest outdoor interactive video screen in Montreal to the exterior of the store which features interactive content by Rodeo FX, a visual effects studio that boasts international success thanks to his work on series such as Game of Thrones and Stranger Things. Passers-by will have the opportunity to navigate interactive content from featured artists on a screen inspired by Times Square.
The layout of the store otherwise includes grab-and-go items at the store’s exit for those passing by the checkouts that Mr. Goldberg refers to as a ‘Market’. About 30 people are now employed in the new Gallery B storefront in Griffintown.
With an average shopping cart of about $100, Bouclair stands out in the neighbourhood that is better known for its high-end furniture retailers. Neighbouring stores include EQ3, West Elm, Must Société, and until recently, Kartell.
It’s the first Bouclair storefront to open near downtown Montreal with its only other store in the city being located at the Central Market, near the Rockland Centre.
Within two years, all Bouclair stores are expected to offer elements of the new Griffintown concept store according to the retailer. Bouclair now has 33 stores in the province of Quebec and 55 in Canada.
Bouclair Galerie B (Image: Maxime Frechette )Bouclair Galerie B (Image: Maxime Frechette )Bouclair Galerie B (Image: Maxime Frechette )Bouclair Galerie B (Image: Maxime Frechette )Bouclair Galerie B (Image: Maxime Frechette )
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past 24 hours.
European Boutique at CF Sherway Gardens in Toronto. Photo supplied.
Canadian watch and jewellery retailer European Boutique will renovate its store at the Square One shopping centre in Mississauga with completion set for the second quarter of 2022. It’s part of an ongoing investment by the retailer in its operations in the Greater Toronto Area which includes locations in four major malls.
In Mississauga, two new luxury watch mono-brand storefronts will be introduced to the Square One European Boutique for brands Breitling and TAG Heuer. The unique spaces for each brand will resemble those recently introduced by European Boutique at CF Toronto Eaton Centre and CF Sherway Gardens as seen in the photos in this article.
Over the past four years, European Boutique has unveiled several mono-brand boutique concepts to its stores. At Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, European Boutique partnered with luxury watch brand Breitling in the summer of 2017 to open Canada’s first standalone Breitling boutique. Around the same time, European Boutique partnered with OMEGA to open Toronto’s first OMEGA boutique next to it.
European Boutique at CF Toronto Eaton Centre. Photo supplied.
At CF Sherway Gardens in the fall of 2017, European Boutique unveiled storefronts for Montblanc, TAG Heuer and Gucci, with the latter two brand stores being unique in all of North America in terms of design. A subsequent renovation of the CF Toronto Eaton Centre location included mono-brand spaces for Breitling, Omega and TAG Heuer.
Cadillac Fairview Launches Unique Holoportation Technolgy by PORTL at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Canadian shopping centre owner Cadillac Fairview is launching a unique and innovative holoportation technology, PORTL, at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, which will bring fashion shows to life during this holiday season.
PORTL beams people and places in life-sized, volumetric 4K in real time. CF will showcase this futuristic technology to beam holograms of models for its Shop the Look holiday fashion show at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre and throughout the holiday shopping season via three locations throughout the property.
“With PORTL, CF is investing once again in experiences that drive innovation in the Canadian retail space,” said Andrea Nickel, Director of Customer Experience and Marketing Communications, Cadillac Fairview. “Our customers’ expectations are continuously evolving, which is why we’re always looking for creative solutions to offer our guests the most efficient and inspiring shopping experiences.
“Thanks to the team at PORTL, shoppers will be able to immerse themselves in the latest trends this holiday season with a fun, holographic fashion show and then know where to find those looks at CF Toronto Eaton Centre with an easily accessible digital shopping guide.”
Cadillac Fairview Launches Unique Holoportation Technolgy at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Cadillac Fairview said that for the first time in Canada the groundbreaking PORTL holoportation technology will be on full display at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre for a fashion show unlike any other and a worldwide first, beamed exclusively to visitors at the country’s most iconic shopping centre.
QR codes will be posted at each PORTL holographic display and will direct shoppers to CF’s Shop the Look Holiday Hub, a website that provides details on all the looks from the show and directs visitors to retail locations at CF properties where they can purchase the items.
“PORTL is all about bringing people together, and we’re proud to be doing it in Canada,” said David Nussbaum, CEO and Inventor of PORTL Inc. “Thanks to our partnership with Cadillac Fairview, we’ll be demonstrating to Canadians how our hologram technology is changing shopping, business, education, entertainment and the world. When we beam the fashion models into CF Toronto Eaton Centre this week, shoppers will be witnessing the future – a new kind of sustainable transportation that lets people have meaningful interactions across every kind of divide. Like we say, ‘If you can’t Be there, Beam there.’”
CF Toronto Eaton Centre General Manager Sheila Jennings at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre / PORTL Debut
Nickel said as Cadillac Fairview looked to build out its holiday program it wanted Canadians to rediscover the magic of the holiday season.
“We’re constantly looking to improve and innovate and we know that Canadians more than ever are very eager to get out to enjoy the holidays in a fun and safe way,” she said. “We also wanted to connect their visit with shopping in a very inspiring experience as well.
“As we thought about the Shop The Look program which incorporates the PORTL we thought what better way to bring to life the magic of the season and the hottest trends of the season within almost a real life fashion show. It’s the first holographic fashion show in Canada which is pretty cool to be able to partner with PORTL.”
Peter Papapetrou at the Cadillac Fairview PORTL Media Event at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Cadillac Fairview)Cadillac Fairview Launches Unique Holoportation Technolgy by PORTL at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
This is the first time that PORTL has been used in Canada, and the first time the company’s holoportation technology has been used to beam fashion models live into a world-class retail property to interact with the public.
“The PORTL device itself, it really helps to bring that fashion, bring those hottest trends to life, because it is a holoportation device . . . It really does look almost real life,” said Nickel.
She said the device will be in three different locations at the Eaton Centre – one court space beside Nordstrom and two other locations where two empty storefronts have been taken.
“It will continue through the month of December and all the way to early January and we have fresh content being released every single week. So essentially almost like a new fashion show will be released every week with different looks and tied to the trends of the season,” added Nickel.
Cadillac Fairview Launches Unique Holoportation Technolgy by PORTL at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Canadian Fashion Icon Peter Papapetrou, CF Toronto Eaton Centre General Manager Sheila Jennings and Andrea Nickel, Director of Customer Experience & Marketing Communications at Cadillac Fairview at the Media Event as Cadillac Fairview Launches Unique Holoportation PORTL Technolgy at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Cadillac Fairview sees potential in the future for the use of this technology in other ways and in other centres.
“This is absolutely a test that we’re running in partnership with PORTL but I could absolutely see a future for it depending on how well this goes. As we look to the future and every season has new hottest trends and looks and as we look to support our retailers and connect the experiences that shoppers are having within our properties to drive them into our retailers to shop, we definitely see a direct connection to what we’re delivery in terms of that experience to inspire our shoppers to go over and buy with our retailers and help their sales and revenue overall,” said Nickel.
PORTL Inc. is the maker of hologram devices and the software and cloud services to support holoportation. Founded in 2018 by inventor and CEO David Nussbaum, its award-winning products are now in use all over the world, beaming executives, tech and science experts, and sports and music celebrities to events, displaying NFTs and other objects, and becoming a vital new tool for education, retail, marketing, and the hospitality industry.
Additional Photos from CF Toronto Eaton Centre / PORTL
Canadian Fashion Icon Peter Papapetrou at the Media Event as Cadillac Fairview Launches Unique Holoportation Technolgy at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Canadian Fashion Icon Peter Papapetrou, CF Toronto Eaton Centre General Manager Sheila Jennings and Andrea Nickel, Director of Customer Experience & Marketing Communications at Cadillac Fairview at the Media Event as Cadillac Fairview Launches Unique Holoportation PORTL Technolgy at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)Canadian Fashion Icon Peter Papapetrou at the Media Event as Cadillac Fairview Launches Unique Holoportation Technolgy at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Cadillac Fairview)Cadillac Fairview Launches Unique Holoportation Technolgy at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Cadillac Fairview)
EMERGE Commerce Acquires Tech-Enabled B2B Ecomm Pet Marketplace
EMERGE Commerce Ltd., a diversified acquirer and operator of e-commerce brands, continues to grow its business with the latest acquisition being WholesalePet.com, a leading technology-enabled B2B e-commerce marketplace, connecting over 8,000 independent retail locations with over 400 independent pet vendors, offering over one million SKUs.
Ghassan Halazon
Ghassan Halazon, EMERGE Founder and CEO, said the landmark acquisition is a huge milestone as EMERGE now eclipses $100 million in gross merchandise sales on an annual basis.
The purchase price was US $25 million.
EMERGE went public in December 2020 and Halazon said the latest acquisition is its seventh (eighth brand) and largest one and the first B2B acquisition. It’s also the third acquisition (fourth brand) since going public.
He said the company’s main verticals are now Pets, Groceries/ Meat, Outdoor Gear, Golf, Experiences.
“It’s a big deal for us on a couple of fronts. First, it helps EMERGE eclipse the $100 million milestone in gross merchandise sales. We now comfortably process in excess of $100 million annually across our platform of e-commerce brands. That’s a nice symbolic number in the context of Canadian e-commerce,” said Halazon.
EMERGE Acquires WholesalePet.com
“The other aspect of this that’s interesting is that it’s our first foray into the fast growing $10 billion pet e-commerce market. That’s a super exciting space for us and it’s an anchor business for us in the broader world of pet e-commerce.
“It also happens to be the first time we’ve acquired a B2B platform. Traditionally EMERGE has been focused on direct to consumer brands. Wholesale Pet is actually a highly profitable B2B platform and it’s a marketplace that connects independent pet retailers – there’s about 8,000 independent pet retail stores that come onto the platform, that come onto the marketplace and there’s about a million SKUs available on the platform from about 400 vendors.”
Wholesale Pet generated gross merchandise sales of about US$40 million, revenue of US$3.7 million, and Adjusted EBITDA of US$2.8 million in the 12 months ended September 30, 2021.
Image: EMERGE Commerce
“There’s a couple of things we really liked about this business. Number one, it has a 20-year track record of organic growth and profitability. This is a business that was founded in 2001 out of Virginia in the US,” said Halazon. “Along with the 20-year track record and organic growth and profitability one aspect that we really liked is how profitable this business really is. It has about 75 per cent EBITDA margins.”
Chris Avery
“We are confident EMERGE is the best partner to help propel us to the next level in the dynamic $100B Pet Industry. Both teams are eager to accelerate current growth plans through EMERGE’s e-commerce expertise, data mining, sister-company synergies, and potential M&A opportunities. We also look forward to collaborating with EMERGE on new sources of value creation across our B2B marketplace, including launching new services and technologies,” said WholesalePet.com CEO Chris Avery.
EMERGE sold a record $2.7 million in gross merchandise sales during the 2021 Black Friday-Cyber Monday period, more than tripling GMS during the comparable 2020 period. A new single-day record for EMERGE was achieved on Cyber Monday, with GMS of approximately $1 million.
WholesalePet.com led the way with its largest total GMS during BFCM, with approximately $1.2 million GMS, or 44 per cent of total GMS, while JustGolfStuff achieved the highest growth rate for the period at over 100 per cent, year over year.
T&T Supermarket on College Street in Toronto (Photo: Dustin Fuhs)
T&T Supermarkets is continuing to expand in the Canadian market and announced on Thursday it will be opening its first store in Quebec in the next 12 to 24 months.
The news comes after the recent announcement that the company would open a new location in the winter of 2022 in the CF Fairview Mall in Toronto.
“After receiving many requests over the years from T&T fans who live in Montreal, I’m happy to say we are finally coming,” said Tina Lee, CEO of T&T Supermarkets. “Our goal is always to be at the forefront of Asian food innovation, and I am so excited to introduce our offering to Montreal, a city that has such a vibrant food-loving culture.
Tina Lee, CEO of T&T Supermarkets (CNW Group/Loblaw Companies Limited)
“Montreal is the second largest city in Canada. Certainly on the population side it’s only second to Toronto and that also goes for its East Asian population, which I feel is large enough for T&T to give it a try and open one store there, albeit in a new province which gives its own complexities.
“Also what I feel very encouraged about after visiting Montreal in the summer is that I’ve come to appreciate that Quebeckers are quite a food-loving culture. I think we’re going to appeal to more than just the Chinese-Canadian population. We are hoping to welcome non-Asians as well to the store because food is such a big part of living in Montreal, celebrating every meal. And T&T product I hope will resonate really well with the local community. That gives me optimism that our store will do well there.”
T&T Supermarkets is the largest Asian supermarket chain in Canada, with 29 stores, operating in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. T&T Supermarkets was founded in Vancouver in 1993 and is now led by second generation successor Lee. T&T Supermarket is headquartered in Richmond, BC, with offices in Toronto. It is owned by Loblaw Companies.
T&T Supermarket on College Street in Toronto (Photo: Dustin Fuhs)
“Since joining Loblaw, I have gotten to know T&T Supermarkets and it simply must be brought to Quebec,” said Robert Sawyer, COO of Loblaw Companies Limited and a resident of Montreal. “It’s not just the Asian population that is going to love this store – all Quebeckers from different backgrounds are going to really enjoy this unique shopping destination. We all miss travelling the world to explore new flavours. Pretty soon the people of Montreal will be able to experience the best Asian food offering I’ve seen right here in the city.”
Lee said the company is finalizing its site selection and narrowing in on the island of Montreal and it will be a typical T&T size of about 40,000 square feet.
It is also starting recruitment efforts for Department Heads, Assistant Department Heads and Department Supervisors, who live in Montreal. Training can be conducted in any of the existing T&T stores, with the closest store to Montreal being Ottawa. As the store opens, the company will hire over 300 people to join the T&T team.
It is also reaching out to local vendors in Montreal in preparation for the launch of the new location.
Image: T&T Supermarket at Willowbrook Shopping Centre
The T&T story began in 1993 when Cindy Lee, an immigrant from Taiwan and a working mother of three, had a simple dream to help families by bringing the best of Asian fresh food and groceries under one roof. Helped by her husband Jack, Lee opened two stores in Burnaby and Richmond, BC. The name of the supermarket relates to her two daughters Tina and Tiffany and the initials of two early investors.
In 1998, T&T launched restaurant-quality sushi and dim sum which was the start of the supermarket pioneering in-store food innovation.
In 1999, it opened its first location outside of BC in Calgary at the Pacific Place Mall and then in 2002 it opened its ninth store at the Promenade Mall in Thornhill, Ontario.
The company was acquired by Loblaw in 2009 with Cindy Lee continuing as CEO and the Lee family remaining a significant shareholder.
In 2014, Cindy retired and was succeeded by daughter Tina.
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. This will include important national content as well as very selected local content deemed important. If you have any questions, contact craig@retail-insider.com.
The companies say this is a first-ever retail innovation which digitizes real-time store inventory within Primaris’ national shopping centre network into one marketplace, replicating the shopping experience online with one-cart checkout, and fast delivery from the shopping mall closest to the shopper’s location.
PRIMARCHÉ has rolled out across five Primaris shopping centres including Dufferin Mall (Toronto), Stone Road Mall (Guelph), Cataraqui Centre (Kingston), Orchard Park Mall (Kelowna), and Park Place Mall (Lethbridge) with additional malls to follow.
Marco Biasiotto, Director, Retail & Digital Strategy for Primaris, said the marketplace essentially links together the retailers’ real-time inventory within the shopping centre into one ecommerce marketplace.
“That’s really the innovation here. Our retailers can rebalance their merchandise across their network of stores close to where shoppers live rather than depend on costly warehouse space for distribution of online orders. By aggregating orders into one delivery from multiple retailers from our shopping centres we are lowering the costs of last mile delivery for our retail partners” said Biasiotto.
Marco Biasiotto
“Our shoppers, especially during this COVID environment, are looking for a seamless digital way to access the inventory within our shopping centres and be able to purchase from multiple retailers in one cart. We felt there was a tremendous opportunity to partner with our retailers and deliver this ecommerce strategy in Canada. So we’re the first landlord really to launch this initiative and what it does is it allows us to benefit from those consumers’ whose preferences are shifting towards ecommerce and it allows them to have a brick and mortar experience in a digital environment.”
He said Primaris is reaching out to its tenants to participate in the program. When they do accept to participate, we are integrating the real-time inventory into our marketplace through multiple methods including API’s while installing a device at the cash register at each store. As a transaction takes place the retailers then find the items and prepare them for pickup by the mall staff for curbside pickup or delivery. Retailers have the flexibility if they want to manage the inventory showing on the marketplace real time as well. He also said that many of the retailers we are talking to are also asking if they can add devices in their stores nationally to pull inventory from every location and that is something we can deliver. We will also soon launch HandsFree shopping for our tenants.
“Based on all the inventory that’s on the site, if you’re shopping for a white T-shirt that’s available at H&M on our platform, depending on where you reside or where it’s being delivered to, it will actually search our network of stores to find the closest that offers that item,” said Biasiotto.
“So if I’m sitting in Toronto it will go to Dufferin Mall first if it has it. If not in inventory, it will go to the next shopping centre which is Stone Road Mall in Guelph, if not it will go to Cataraqui and Park Place and then Kelowna.”
Primaris is a wholly-owned subsidiary of H&R REIT. Primaris owns and manages more than 7.5 million square feet of commercial space, including 17 enclosed shopping centres located across Canada. H&R REIT is one of Canada’s largest real estate investment trusts with total assets of approximately $13.1 billion at June 30, 2021.
Dropit, founded in 2016, is a multichannel digital platform with solutions for shopping centres, retailers, and consumers throughout the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, and Belgium. Dropit’s omnichannel technology and solutions create opportunities for operational efficiency and customer convenience from fast and flexible fulfilment, cross-channel inventory visibility to streamlined shipping.
Dufferin Mall (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Patrick Sullivan
“The global pandemic has accelerated trends in consumer behaviour that otherwise may have taken years to unfold. PRIMARCHÉ enables our shopping centres to better service the communities in which we operate and benefits our retail partners by creating efficiencies in last mile delivery,” said Patrick Sullivan, Primaris’ Chief Operating Officer.
“Dropit is proud to partner with the Primaris team to bring this Canadian-exclusive omnichannel solution to life. Primaris is a forward-thinking company with an extraordinary vision for the future of retail. Their dominant enclosed shopping centre portfolio is an ideal fit for the Dropit technology, and we are confident that the customer will be met with exceptional and seamless shopping experience,” said Stuart Ford, COO of Dropit.
Stuart Ford
PRIMARCHÉ has same-day and next-day delivery. The online collection allows customers to purchase products from different brands and stores, adding items to one cart with orders processed as a single shipment. The PRIMARCHÉ approach reduces shipping costs by shortening transit time within the Primaris portfolio of shopping centres already located in highly populated areas across Canada. This enables high-speed delivery, reducing delivery costs, and overcoming supply chain bottlenecks, last-mile challenges, and other logistical disruptions.
PRIMARCHÉ unique proposition is its ability to utilize the existing store inventory and convert the physical shelf into a distribution point for online fulfilment. As store stock can be simultaneously available for sale in the mall and online, Primaris is enhancing the sales potential of its retailers beyond traditional shopping hours.
“The plan is to continue to add more Primaris shopping centres and retailers onto the marketplace and to become a significant ecommerce destination in Canada,” said Biasiotto.
As of mid-November there were eight stores on the platform including H&M, another eight stores’ inventory soon to be uploaded, and another 30 in advanced negotiations that have indicated they would like to participate.
“Coming into the new year there’s a number of larger national and international brands that have said let us get past Christmas and then we will get into some deep conversations with you regarding this platform,” he said.
“One of the wonderful things about this program is it really supports our communities across Canada in that we have those independent retailers that are located in Kelowna or downtown Toronto at Dufferin Mall. We’ve now exposed their merchandise and their brand across the entire country to all of our customers which is a great value add for retailers that want to lease space in a Primaris mall and be on our platform.
“This allows consumers to shop 24 hours a day, seven days a week from anywhere and have it delivered or picked up curbside. We are currently delivering next day but shortly we will begin same day delivery in as short as two hours which the Amazons of the world and others can’t really facilitate because they don’t have access to the real-time inventory like we do. Amazon is a digital interface to the physical retail environment while Primaris is a physical retail company interfacing into the digital environment”
This PRIMARCHÉ video shows how this integrated technology platform solves the challenges of the last mile.
The food and grocery sector in Canada is fiercely competitive, presenting a landscape in which differentiation and success for its players are often defined by the slightest of discrepancies. And, given the digitization of the world around us, which has been accelerating over the course of the past year-and-a-half at breakneck speed, many of those discrepancies are being discovered via technology-enabled automation. It’s leading many grocers within the country to reassess their operations in order to identify tasks and processes that can be supported by robotic innovations and help create greater efficiency and a more seamless and convenient experience for the customer. Although this cutting-edge vision has not yet fully taken hold within the country’s grocery sector, Sylvain Charlebois, industry expert and Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, believes that it’s only a matter of time before automation becomes a necessary layer of the Canadian grocery business.
“The digitization of the industry is a work in progress,” he says. “There’s been a little bit of discomfort around the idea for a while. It’s highlighted by a bit of a melancholic way of viewing human capital and workers on farms, in processing and so on. But the reality is that there’s a shift in mindset happening across the board. Grocers across the country know that margins are low and that they need to achieve high volume to remain successful. These factors, combined with macroeconomic elements, are pressuring those within the industry to figure out how they can compete and make sure that they don’t expose their companies to risks, especially with respect to what we just experienced through the pandemic period. During the past 18 months, 16 plants were forced to close for at least two weeks at various times. That ends up being extremely costly. So, many within the industry are exploring ways they can continue to execute work and avoid disruptions to their operations during times of crisis. And it’s hard to think of too many ways that this can be achieved beyond automation.”
Shift in thinking
Thinking around the ways that automation could be leveraged within the grocery operation has been intensifying over recent years. And it’s thinking that extends beyond the grocery aisles, impacting retail as a whole. In fact, McKinsey & Company research generated prior to the pandemic in 2017 suggested that at least half of all work activities within North American retail are technically automatable through the use of robotic technologies. Further, its data implies that 6 in 10 (60%) occupations are comprised of tasks that are more than 30 percent automatable. Fast-forward nearly five years and a pandemic later, and the general sentiment with respect to automation and the benefits it can present are becoming even more pervasive.
“Grocers and other retailers within the industry are really beginning to see the advantages of the use of automation,” Charlebois asserts. “As we continue to move forward beyond the impacts of the pandemic, many grocers in the country are going to continue to digitize their supply chains. And a big part of that digitization is going to include the increased use of robotics. The technologies have existed for a while. But, up until now, it’s been difficult for grocers in the country to capitalize on their use. The Canadian grocery sector is probably one of the most risk-averse sectors anywhere. And the risks are so high with so little room to manoeuvre. However, investors are recognizing the ways in which efficiencies and profits can be increased by approaching operations differently. And grocers are beginning to see the ways that automation can, in fact, help them reduce risks in the future.”
Enhanced strategy and decision-making
Image: Warehouse Automation
Charlebois goes on to explain that with increased consumer adoption of online channels comes even greater opportunities for grocers to speed up processes, increase accuracy and volume. However, he points to the power inherent in automated technologies to calculate and inform businesses as the most significant benefit available to grocers. The data that can be gleaned from a digitally automated operation provides grocers with the potential to plan better, develop more effective strategy and ultimately execute with greater confidence and a clearer perspective of the market and the conditions that are impacting operations.
“When we’re talking about automating the grocery business, it boils down to providing greater predictability,” he says. “Automation can help grocers more easily and precisely identify trends in the market and demand for certain product, and forecast for these changes and fluctuations more effectively. There are also many different tasks within grocery that are repetitive which can be replaced or augmented by the use of robotics. For example, turning inventory in the warehouse or on grocery store shelves. In many stores, there are multiple sections where the turning of inventory is required at least twice a day, sometimes three times a day. Automating those types of jobs can actually improve accuracy and efficiency. That’s definitely not to say that humans will at any point be eliminated from the process. But, relieving them of these mundane tasks can free up their time which can be reallocated for more strategic and meaningful roles within the business.”
Human oversight and intervention
He stresses that the role of humans within the grocery sector going forward, with the help of technology and automation, is set to become that much more important. In fact, Charlebois suggests that the grocers that take an approach involving the use of predictive analytics, anchored by human insight and savvy, will be the most successful in a post-pandemic world. The use of automation to generate critical data that’s disseminated and actioned by people within the business has the potential to help inform strategy and revolutionize decision-making. And it just happens to be a component of the grocery business in Canada that he says is in need of enhancements and improvement.
“When it comes to strategic planning, grocers themselves will tell you that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done in order to identify opportunities and capitalize on them for the business,” he says. “Perhaps the greatest opportunity that’s in front of grocers today is in reassessing how exactly they do business at all stages of their operations, and developing ways in which automated technologies and human intervention and insights can work together, each complementing the strengths of the other. It will lead them to a more holistic view of their businesses and uncover opportunities that they didn’t even know existed.”
Realization of potential
The use of robotics ultimately presents grocers across the country with the ability to optimize their workforce and increased the speed of distribution. And, in a landscape as competitive as grocery, any operational optimizations and increases in efficiency are welcome. But, as Charlebois points out, any potential improvements and enhancements that can be made to tomorrow’s grocery business will only yield positive outcomes if grocers implement them with focus and intent. Afterall, he affirms, every decision a grocer makes concerning the business should be deliberated and arrived at with the needs and preferences of their consumers in mind. Those who are able to do this, he adds, will be those who experience the greatest success and growth going forward.
“Automation, if implemented properly into the business, provides significantly more stability and allows grocers to protect their margins with increased surety. As a result, costs won’t fluctuate as much, increasing the profitability of the operation. Consequently, on the back of greater efficiencies, predictability and understanding of the market and the trends impacting it, grocers will be afforded much more time and focus that can be directed at ensuring an incredible customer experience. Increasingly grocers from coast-to-coast-to-coast are realizing the immense potential in automated technologies to achieve these outcomes and revolutionize the grocery business, from farmgate to plate.”
