Stater Bros. unifies store operations at POS
The largest privately-owned supermarket chain in Southern California is reducing the complexity of its store technology infrastructure.
Stater Bros. Markets is implementing the NCR Emerald cloud-based POS solution, which connects to the NCR Commerce store operations platform, to streamline workflows and improve consumer experiences across all sales channels. The retailer leverages the NCR Commerce platform (NCP) to unify all technology needed to run the store.
As a result, Stater Bros. benefits from faster, more efficient rollout of new capabilities and services, such as POS solutions and NCR Emerald’s end-to-end connectivity. Stater Bros. was able to roll out capabilities to its POS lanes with ease, speed and flexibility, and could more easily deploy additional options for its consumers. The company was able to successfully deploy all-new software and lane hardware to its 171 stores in 15 weeks.
“To improve our shoppers’ experience and create new, compelling services, NCR delivered a simplified platform architecture and built-in redundancy for maximum uptime,” said Gil Salazar, senior VP of IT, Stater Bros. Markets. “NCR Emerald checked every box, and as our customers’ needs change, the technology will be able to evolve, which is critically important to our business.”
“NCR Emerald will simplify Stater Bros. store operations and open up connections to the NCP, enabling better data insights and an improved consumer shopping experience,” said David Wilkinson, president and GM of NCR Retail. “The NCP unifies technology needed to run the store and provides the backbone for new services that further spur innovation.”
Stater Bros. shifts to digital ERP management
Stater Bros. is also streamlining back-end operations. In fall 2021, the grocer began migrating to the SAP S/4 HANA ERP system and Success Factors human capital management solution.
“Stater Bros. Markets expects to fully leverage the SAP S/4 HANA platform to enhance and streamline our supply chain management efforts,” Gil Salazar, senior VP, IT, Stater Bros. Markets, said in an exclusive interview with Chain Store Age. “This includes gaining access to real-time data which will significantly improve the time it takes for us to arrive at a decision. In today’s competitive landscape, access to timely data is critical to our long-term success.
“We believe that empowering our teammates with real-time data will provide more visibility and insight into what is moving in our stores which will ultimately drive improved results,” said Salazar. “In addition to improved data access, we expect to take advantage of the capabilities provided around inventory management including real-time inventory views and perpetual inventory capabilities.
“We also anticipate being able to take full advantage of the procure-to-pay capability under a single system. Obtaining timely insights and leveraging the capability of the SAP system will enable us to simplify the onboarding of new vendors and items, positioning us to source the products that our customers are looking for. We believe strongly that SAP will provide a richer data set which we can augment with other enterprise data to create a holistic view of our business and operations.”
Based in San Bernardino, Calif., Stater Bros. Markets operates 171 grocery store locations.