News Briefs

Tractor Supply Company is obtaining transparency in its supply chain.

The nation’s largest rural lifestyle retailer is implementing the Relex artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)-based supply chain forecasting and replenishment solution. 

Tractor Supply hopes to obtain greater real-time visibility into its supply chain, enabling the company to better anticipate the needs of its 2,100-plus stores and nine distribution centers while providing forecasts to vendor partners. Leveraging the Relex solution, Tractor Supply will streamline forecasting, replenishment and allocations.

The retailer is enhancing supply chain capabilities as it plans to increase its annual new store openings to 90 beginning in 2025, with a “step up” to 80 locations in 2024. It’s on track to open approximately 70 stores this year.

“Relex allows us to scale our supply chain to support growth with same store sales, new stores and e-commerce,” said Clay Jackson, VP of inventory and planning at Tractor Supply Company. “By centralizing and automating our demand planning, Relex has added a new level of optimization to our supply chain, allowing us to continue to deliver legendary service to our customers.”

“Tractor Supply Company embarked on a journey to upgrade its supply chain systems, conducting a meticulous evaluation process to ensure they found the perfect fit,” said Ron Fleischer, senior VP customer operations, Americas at Relex Solutions. “We are committed to helping Tractor Supply leverage our powerful tools to optimize their supply chain, enhance operations, and cater to the ever-evolving needs of their valued customers. Together, we are poised to drive meaningful change and deliver exceptional results."

Amazon has tapped a company veteran to replace the outgoing president of its fashion & fitness division.

Mudge Erdrik Dogan, a 16-plus-year Amazon veteran, is stepping down as president of Amazon Fashion & Fitness for a new position outside the company, according to GeekWire. Dogan has been in the role since February 2021.  Her reported departure follows the news that Amazon had decided to close its two Amazon Style physical retail stores and focus on its online fashion shopping experience, saying it will introduce innovative technology to better serve the needs of fashion customers.

Jenny Freshwater, who most recently served as VP of traffic and marketing technology, is being promoted to president of the division. She joined Amazon in 201.

Dogan, who holds a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, joined Amazon in 2007 as senior product manager. Before her promotion to president of Amazon Fashion, she served as VP of worldwide last mile delivery and pick-up at Amazon from 2018 to 2021.

Freshwater began her Amazon career as a data engineering manager in 2010, and has also held VP-level positions at the company handling forecasting and capacity planning, as well as traffic and marketing technology.

Amazon has not posted anything about any changes in its Fashion & Fitness senior management, and neither Dogan nor Freshwater has updated their LinkedIn profiles as of the time of this article’s posting.

Read more coverage from GeekWire here.

Amazon shoppers can now buy products directly on Facebook and Instagram without leaving the social apps. 

Amazon has partnered with Meta for in-app shopping on Facebook and Instagram.  According to a support page on its website, Meta now lets consumers to directly link their Facebook and Instagram social media accounts to Amazon. By opting in to the new offering, Facebook and Instagram users will be able to see real-time pricing, Prime eligibility, delivery estimates and product details on select Amazon product ads in Facebook and Instagram.

As a result, participating Facebook and Instagram users can make purchases from Amazon by clicking on ads in their social feeds, without having to leave the Facebook or Instagram app.

The account linking is voluntary, and participating consumers can choose to unlink their Amazon and Meta accounts at any time in the Meta Accounts Center.

“For a more seamless shopping experience from an ad on Facebook and Instagram, you can choose to link your Meta and Amazon accounts.,” Meta said in the support page post.

Chain Store Age has reached out to Amazon for commentary. In a comment published on CNBC, an Amazon spokesperson said, “For the first time, customers will be able to shop Amazon’s Facebook and Instagram ads and check out with Amazon without leaving the social media apps.”

The CNBC article also quoted a LinkedIn comment from Meta marketing leader Stuart McMullin, who said, “It was a long process in the making and a huge deal.”

Chief Amazon rival Walmart simulcasts shoppable livestreams on Facebook, allowing Facebook followers of retailers, brands, publishers, and influencers receive an alert when they go live on a Walmart live shopping broadcast, giving consumers the ability to watch and shop directly within the social network.

The deal also comes as TikTok is looking to challenge Amazon by diving into e-commerce. In September, the company launched its long-anticipated TikTok Shop in the United States.  The video-focused social media platform says it has more than 150 million U.S. users.

 Walgreens Boots Alliance is undergoing another round of corporate layoffs. 

The retail pharmacy and health care services company is laying off 267 corporate workers, or about 5% of its Chicago-based corporate workforce, reported the Chicago Tribune. Walgreens currently has about 238,000 employees worldwide. The layoffs will not employees at Walgreens stores.

Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman told the Chicago Tribune the layoffs were intended to streamline operations “and focus on our critical priorities.”   

In a related item, Bloomberg reported that Kevin Ban, who has served as Walgreens’ chief medical officer since January 2020, is leaving. He is reportedly being succeeded by chief clinical officer Sashi Moodley. Luke Sauter, chief of staff to the CEO, is also leaving, the report said. 

In May, Walgreens eliminated  504 corporate roles,  of about 10% of its corporate workforce.  The latest round of layoffs    come as the company is looking to cut at least $1 billion under the leadership of new CEO Tim Wentworth, who took the the reins of Walgreens in October. 

Retailers need to improve data and technology operations to better improve the customer experience, according to a new survey of store leaders and corporate level customer experience decision-makers.

The new study, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, featured 346 individuals and found that more than half (54%) said that their technology systems are outdated and not connected. Six-in-10 said that too many disparate systems and tools “hinder a cohesive view of their customers and operations,” and nearly eight-in-10 (79%) believe that corporate management does not prioritize unifying stores with digital commerce.

However, the study found that a large majority of respondents believe that using artificial intelligence- (AI) driven tools will improve operations both in-store and online. Ninety-four percent of respondents said that incorporating customer data into the store is very or extremely impactful to the customer experience. Additionally, 91% said that their leadership currently sees those experiences as separate.

According to Toshiba, the top benefits of having a fully-integrated digital and physical customer experience (CX) include increased customer satisfaction, improved brand reputation and improved employee satisfaction.

Per the survey, Impacts expected from fully-integrated physical and digital CX include improved efficiency with customer outreach from use of customer data (55%); improved customer loyalty (51%); reduced employee attrition from better employee experience (EX) (49%); and increased net revenue (49%).

A fast-casual burger chain is optimizing digital order processing and kitchen operations with artificial intelligence (AI).

Smashburger is deploying the AI-based Curbit order processing solution to dynamically adjust order promise times through continuous real-time analysis of actual kitchen capabilities. The Curbit solution seamlessly integrates with kitchen display systems and online ordering systems, forming a closed loop between the ordering and fulfillment process. 

Utilizing advanced AI, these real-time integrations are intended to facilitate dynamic order throttling, kitchen intelligence, and automated customer communication, with the goal of narrowing the gap between estimated and actual ticket times.

After a successsful initial test period in 60 locations, Smashburger rolled out the Curbit software in 129 corporate stores nationwide on Oct. 16, 2023. Pilot results included 84% Improvement in time to pickup and 22% increase in repeat rate.

"With digital ordering, you have one opportunity to impress a first-time customer and very little room for error with returning customer,” said Veronica Luna, senior director of digital engagement of Jollibee Group North America, Smashburger’s parent company. “After witnessing the impressive results in our test markets, the decision to implement the Curbit system across all company-owned locations was a straightforward one.”

"Curbit's collaboration with Smashburger and Jollibee Food Corp. stands as a prime illustration of a technology-driven brand dedicated to embracing digital transformation, and it has clearly yielded the benefits of AI-driven kitchen intelligence," said Scott Siegel, co-founder and chief revenue officer of Curbit. 

[Read more: Exclusive Q&A: Smashburger transforms drive-thru with next-gen tech]

Founded in 2007 in Denver, Smashburger has 245 corporate and franchise restaurants operating in 34 states and seven countries.