Guided picking is also much easier, which means a reduced need for training and store knowledge. Consequently, staffing becomes easier and much more affordable. Picking assisted by the picking system allows for either an increased volume of picking with the same staff or, for resource-constrained retailers, there is also the possibility to operate with a reduced staff.
Click and Collect
E-Commerce Fulfillment: Click & Collect solution with Pricer Instant Flash
"The most effective way to quickly fulfill online orders is with the sub-one-second (instant) flash, made possible thanks to optical wireless communications."
The online revolution puts new demands on stores
When a shopper orders online, he or she expects the goods to be delivered quickly, correctly and at a low cost (if any). This poses a significant problem, especially for grocery where cold chains have to be maintained.
A common solution is to use the existing store network as the local warehouse to fulfill the online orders. For the stores, this means a new revenue stream, but also an additional and quite heavy task.
Picking goods is one of the most important and time-consuming parts of managing online orders for grocery shopping. Each order often contains many items and it is important that the right item ends up in the right bag in order to be delivered to the right customer.
A typical grocery order can take 15-30 minutes to pick, so with hundreds of orders per day, the store is suddenly faced with having to hire a lot of people, which is both costly and not always easy.
By using modern digital systems for in store picking, it is possible to improve, secure and speed up the process significantly.
How Instant Flash helps Click & Collect operations
Dynamic product positioning
Show the picker where the product is on a map
Route planning optimization
Plan the most optimized route for the picker
Find the product
No need to think, just grab the flashing product
Product finding made easy
With the Pricer system, we assist the picker in finding the product much quicker. Pricer’s electronic shelf labels (ESL) and the flashing of the labels, Instant Flash, facilitates and speeds up the product collection.
The item to be picked is activated and the label on the shelf starts to flash, allowing the picker to just walk up and take it. When the item has been picked and scanned, the label stops flashing. Then the label for the next item to be picked starts to flash. This is controlled through the PDA used by the store associate.
Also, the automated product positioning can feed the correct position of every product into the routing algorithm of the picking software, ensuring that the route is always accurate and optimal.
The flashing light on the shelf label makes it easier to find the right product for the employees. This is particularly noticeable in sections with products that have similar appearance such as baby food, spices, sauces, beauty products, etc. With Instant Flash the employees find the right product much quicker.
Click & Collect video
Discover how easy to use and efficient Pricer’s Click & Collect system is.
Prerequisites
Instant Flash (to avoid having to light up many labels in advance, causing confusion amongst pickers and shoppers).
– Dynamic Product Positioning (to generate up-to-date maps for the pickers to find the products).
Pricer’s main supporting solution is map and flash assisted in-store picking. Pickers are guided along an optimal route on a map to where to pick the products. The system turns on the flash for the product to be picked, saving critical seconds.
Given the sheer volume of orders and items to pick these seconds accumulate to large savings. Typical time savings are 5-10 seconds per pick. It is not uncommon for stores to do 1-2 million picks per year, and still growing, which leads to huge potential savings.
Picking assisted by the picking system allows for either an increased volume of picking with the same staff or, for resource-constrained retailers, there is also the possibility to operate with a reduced staff.
Guided picking
