NICHOLASVILLE, KY - The robot revolution may have seemed like the stuff of myths a mere few decades ago, but it’s now clear that our electronic friends are here to stay. The retail sector has championed robotic operations, with Woodman’s Markets being one of the latest to join the movement. Partnering up with Badger Technologies, the company is deploying multipurpose robots throughout stores in Wisconsin and Illinois, with the goal to expand to all 18 Woodman’s locations by the end of 2020.

“Woodman’s is committed to having the widest variety of groceries at the best prices, unlike other superstores that sell everything from bikes to bananas,” said Clint Woodman, President of Woodman’s Markets. “Badger’s robots are helping us fulfill this mission with real-time inventory visibility that yields analytics and actionable data insights to inform our business decisions.”

According to a press release, these robots will monitor product availability, verify prices, and deliver precise location data for more than 100,000 items at each location. The robots, equipped with Badger® Retail InSight, are part of a complete retail automation solution that is enabling Woodman’s to elevate store execution, lower operational costs, and increase store profits.

Innovative imaging tools and neural networks enable the Badger Technologies’ autonomous robots to detect out-of-stock items with more than 95 percent accuracy. Incorrect and mispriced products are identified with over 90 percent accuracy. Badger Technologies autonomous robots also discern current product locations within a four-foot section of aisles that typically extend more than 100 feet.

“Most Woodman’s stores are over 240,000 square feet, nearly six times larger than the grocery industry average,” said Tim Rowland, CEO of Badger Technologies. “Not only can our robots perform shelf scans in hours instead of days, but they collect and connect critical data with the Woodman’s mobile shopping app to take customer experiences to the next level.”

The ability to automate storewide shelf scans for out-of-stocks and price compliance will eliminate arduous manual tasks, especially given each store’s large floor space. Additionally, Woodman’s can take advantage of critical trending data to better forecast and manage commodities and vendors with frequent stock issues.

Badger Retail InSight also keeps track of item locations, enabling Woodman’s to integrate daily updates into its mobile shopping app to help customers, online order pickers, and store associates quickly find all products. This automated process is proving essential to collaborations with pricing departments, improving the prioritization of replenishment lists, and assessing planogram compliance. These solutions provide a more robust ROI for retailers amid the accelerated pace of change across the retail landscape in 2020.

Data-savvy retailers, like Woodman’s, are taking advantage of a multitude of operational insights gathered by Badger Technologies’ autonomous robots to increase the productivity of omnichannel solutions, including click-and-collect and curbside delivery services.

Welcome to the robot revolution, friends!

Woodman's Markets