Wakefern/ShopRite Pilots Vertical Storage Unit
Wakefern Food Corp. is piloting the Kardex Remstar Shuttle XP Vertical Lift Module (VLM) storage solution at the ShopRite of Kingston, in Kingston, N.Y., in an effort to improve the store’s online shopping service. The compact automated storage and retrieval system is designed to maximize space and offer high-capacity storage.
“The Shuttle XP is a great solution for managing online orders in a small area,” said Mark Dunaway, president of North America operations for Kardex Remstar, a Zurich-based company with U.S. offices in Westbrook, Maine. “Our collaboration with ShopRite and Wakefern is a good example of how leveraging automation and technology can provide an enhanced customer experience.”
Grocery orders are stored in totes on the trays within the unit, and the Shuttle XP automatically delivers the totes based on an order barcode scan when the customer arrives for pickup. The solution can also deliver orders when a customer checks in for curbside pickup.
The Shuttle XP quintuples storage capability while reducing order errors and customer wait times. It also increases slot capacity for stores with limited online shopping space. The Kingston location is piloting the the storage solution in its ShopRite from Home department.
“We are excited to use the Kardex Remstar Shuttle XP as another tool to enhance online shopping service,” said Wakefern Chief Customer Officer Steve Henig. “Our ShopRite from Home online shopping service is one of the fastest-growing parts of our business and we are always looking for ways to streamline the online shopping process for our customers.”
The largest retailer-owned supermarket cooperative in the United States. Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern Food Corp. comprises nearly 50 members that independently own and operate 363 supermarkets under the ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Market, Gourmet Garage, and Fairway Market banners in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The company is No. 23 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 listing of North America’s top food and consumables retailers in in North America.
