Designed to modernize the work of those in charge of purchasing in grocery stores, this innovation promises to transform the way they manage their fresh produce departments. For the launch of this solution, Afresh has teamed up with Wakefern Food Corp, a major US food retailer (owner of ShopRite, The Fresh Grocer and Price Rite). The Californian company provides a concrete response to a major challenge: guaranteeing product quality, freshness and availability, while reducing waste.
Thanks to this technology, stores now have a complete, real-time view of the supply chain. Artificial intelligence helps them forecast demand, choose the right suppliers, adjust orders and react instantly to the unexpected, whether it's a late delivery, capricious weather or a smaller-than-expected harvest.
With Fresh Buying, Afresh has added a missing brick. Until now, its tools helped stores forecast sales based on demand over the previous days, and optimize fresh produce stocks. Fresh Buying goes a step further, guiding purchasing teams as they place orders, taking into account price, volumes available from each supplier, delivery times and the real life of products. Where purchasing managers previously had to compare several systems or call different wholesalers, Afresh's tool automatically suggests the best possible order.
Stores now buy quantities that are truly adapted to their customers' needs, and receive products at the right time and in the right volume, thus avoiding stock-outs and wastage. Consumers, meanwhile, will be satisfied with fresher fruit and vegetables, available more often, and of improved quality all year round. This purchasing solution completes the Afresh range and the Fresh Store Suite, which manages over 10,000 fresh produce departments in the USA.
