For Muhittin Tayli, independent store owner of Matvärlden, working in close collaboration with their digitization partner is the way forward. So, when their new electronic shelf labels (ESLs) were installed, this was done together with Pricer – in only one night.
When Muhittin Tayli opened his first independent store, Matvärlden in Veddesta, outside Stockholm, he had a vision of offering products from all over the world, to inspire his customers and invite them to join the wonderful journey that food can offer.
One can definitely say that he has succeeded, having received the prestigious Store of the Year award after just one year. Today, he owns three grocery stores, who’s tagline is ”Diversity and Quality”, and is planning for more, primarily in the suburbs of Stockholm. ”We are constantly looking for the possibility to open more stores and also different store formats”, he says.
For an independent store, it is important to stay ahead of competition and increase the advantages they have in terms of well-known brands, publicity, distribution, scale etc. Jonas Tayli is the IT manager of the Matvärlden group, which employs 220 people. For him, going digital is a strategic decision.
We need to be able to work efficiently in the store and at the same time meet the demands from the modern customer. With a cloud-based ESL system we can easily manage price changes, and save time doing replenishment. Our employees will be able to do more value-added tasks and improve customer service. We are also looking at other possibilities to use the system to maximize other processes as well”, says Jonas Tayli.
One of the first things the new store owner and his team did when they took over the store in Vällingby in late 2019 was to start looking for a strategic supplier of ESLs. The aim was to find an innovative partner that could support the store moving forward and that had the desire and commitment to work in true partnership.
”We evaluated three different systems, but the choice of Pricer felt very natural. We really appreciated that we shared a common vision and wanted to work closely together. Pricer will now use the store to test new products and solutions, which will be a great advantage also for us as we can closely participate in new innovation”, says Jonas Tayli.
When the installation of the ESL system was planned, the store wanted it to be as quick as possible and minimize the number of people in the store, especially as this was done during the covid-19 pandemic. As the store is used as a test store for Pricer, the idea came up to let Pricer’s employees be part of the installation.
So, is a one-night installation of electronic shelf labels in a store of 12,000 labels even possible? Yes, for Pricer it is. Pricer has done that previously, for instance at Tosano in Italy, and now in Stockholm.
In the middle of January 2021, 20 Pricer employees (from R&D, Finance and also the group management) teamed up with Strongpoint, Pricer’s partner in Sweden, and employees from the store, and made this a true team effort.
What a fantastic achievement to install a whole store in only six hours, with people with very different levels of experience with in-store installation. It was so motivating and encouraging to see how our colleagues made this possible together with the employees from the store and Strongpoint, under the excellent project management of Mattias Andreasson from Strongpoint”, says Fredrik Sunesson, KAM Sweden.
From Pricer, there was a huge interest in participating, and the list was quickly full when the project manager sent out the request internally.
Due to covid-19 the number of people was restricted. There were strict rules to follow, such as having to stick to the own team, only take breaks together with the team and not mix with the others. The store had prepared all the material and also supplied face masks and hand sanitizer, and of course food and snacks.
In the morning, in plenty of time before the store opened at 7 am, the store was all equipped and the system up and running.
Pricer will be following the developments in the store closely, as new solutions and products are being tested in a real store environment.
