SALISBURY, N.C. — Nearly 500 robots will be coming to neighborhood grocery stores thanks to a partnership between Retail Business Services and Badger Technologies™, a product division of Jabil. Ahold Delhaize USA brands GIANT/MARTIN’S and Stop & Shop have elected to bring the robots to nearly 500 of their stores following successful pilots that improved in-store efficiencies and safety.
“As part of our continued focus on technology transformation, we’re pleased to support one of the most significant deployments of robotics innovation in the grocery retail industry,” said Paul Scorza, EVP and Chief Information Officer for Retail Business Services. “Several companies in the grocery retail space have recently begun testing or using in-store robots – something Retail Business Services and the local brands we serve have been doing for some time. We’re pleased to support the GIANT/MARTIN’S and Stop & Shop brands as they now lead the industry from test to large-scale usage of robots and to see the benefits the technology continues to drive for their businesses.”
The in-store robots, named Marty, were easily recognized by customers in stores by their friendly appearance where they were tested and used to identify hazards, such as liquid, powder and bulk food item spills and provide reporting that enables corrective action. They help stores mitigate risk caused by such spills, as well as enabled associates to spend more time serving and interfacing with customers.
“We are excited to be part of this industry-leading rollout of fully autonomous robots that collect safety data while traversing retail stores,” said Frederic McCoy, SVP, Jabil Retail. “Real-time hazard alerts empower stores to resolve incidents like spills, as well as improve operations.”
The deployment of robots at GIANT/MARTIN’s and Stop & Shop is now underway and will continue through the early part of 2019. Other Ahold Delhaize USA brands continue to test with autonomous robots in select stores.
About Retail Business Services
Retail Business Services, LLC, is the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA, currently providing services to six East Coast grocery brands, including Food Lion, Giant Food, GIANT/MARTIN’S, Hannaford and Stop & Shop, as well as the country’s largest online grocery retailer, Peapod. Retail Business Services leverages the scale of the local brands to drive synergies and provides industry-leading expertise, insights and analytics to local brands to support their strategies with services including Information Technology, Merchandising & Marketing Services, Private Brand Products, Pharmacy Services, Sourcing, Not for Resale, Store Services, Financial Services, Legal Services, Communications, Supply Chain and People Systems and Services. For more information, visit www.retailbusinessservices.com.
