Smart & Final Upgrades Store Operations
Smart & Final has deployed the Zenput platform across its 256 grocery warehouse stores, to help ensure new initiatives and core operating procedures are effectively executed in every location.
Smart & Final was looking for a way to continue improving the communication of real-time and important tasks to its stores each day, across a range of areas including customer and store employee safety, store cleanliness, and seasonal promotions. It also needed an enhanced solution to verify that new or updated procedures were completed correctly and on time.
“We want all of our customers to have a great shopping experience every time they visit a Smart & Final, and an important part of that is making sure our employees have clear direction,” said Sean Mahony, SVP of store operations at Smart & Final. “Zenput helps us to be agile, and it ensures that our brand standards are consistently being met.”
Restaurant, retail and other multiunit operators such as Chipotle, P.F. Chang’s, Domino's and 7-Eleven use the platform to automate how operating procedures, public health and food safety protocols, and other key initiatives are rolled out and enforced. Zenput supports 50,000 locations in more than 40 countries.
Smart & Final’s store managers use Zenput to guide work activities such as performing daily status meetings, complying with safety checklists, verifying seasonal promotional displays and ensuring shelves are stocked throughout the day. Whether in store or virtual, district leaders can check in on each store’s progress and flag tasks as needed, providing guidance on where to focus resources.
“With stores operating across geographies and ranging market conditions, rolling out new strategies and maintaining consistency across a grocery operation can be challenging,” said Vladik Rikhter, CEO of San Francisco-based Zenput. “Our work with Smart & Final and other customers shows that grocery operators are innovating to adapt quickly and ensure that every store is moving in the right direction.”
Commerce, California-based Smart & Final operates 256 locations, including larger-format stores under the Smart & Final Extra! banner that combine a warehouse-store format with traditional grocery offerings. All of the chain’s stores sell groceries and household essentials in both bulk and individual sizes without a membership fee. The company is No. 57 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
