Hy-Vee, Inc. has recently announced its partnership with Simbe Robotics to use their autonomous inventory management and retail intelligence solution, Tally, to their stores set across Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri to improve the store teams and the overall experience of the in-store customers.

Hy-Vee, Inc. is a company that operates in 280 plus retail stores across eight Midwestern states with an annual sales rate of $11 billion. Hy-Vee is known for its quality, healthy lifestyle, convenience, culinary expertise, and the superior customer experience they make sure to provide every day to their customers. Adding on to that, they are one among the Top Ten Most Trusted Brands and have also been one among the American Top 5 Favourite Grocery Stores.

Simbe Robotics is the global leader in inventory management automation that gives retailers unprecedented visibility and insights into the state of their store’s environment while improving the inventory and operational challenges. They are a privately held, venture-backed company that is headquartered in San Francisco. And they work with retailers and brands from different countries, including Asia, the US, and Europe.

The Tally robot uses a suite of sensors and operates safely during normal store hours alongside employees, shoppers and doesn’t require any infrastructure changes to the store. And Tally’s design is friendly, intuitive and it naturally fits into the retail environment.

Like the StockBot, Tally is an advanced retail intelligence robot that enables retailers to improve the customer experience by more frequent and very accurate inventory, pricing and promotion information. Tally can autonomously scan tens and thousands of products from the health, wellness, and grocery aisle three times every day to make sure that the products in all the aisles are in stock and are placed in the correct location and it also checks whether the products are correctly priced.

It is a powerful tool and is a productivity driver for store teams that provides them with actionable insights, which can reduce the out-of-stocks by 30 percent, thereby allowing the teams to focus on other important tasks like serving and attending to the customers.

Tally helps in streamlining the operations and makes sure that retailers can provide customers with the best experience in-store. And more informed business decisions and accurate order forecasting, and optimizing the store layout to support sales.

This data, combined with Tally’s plug-and-play software platform and APIs, will provide Hy-Vee with unprecedented insights, giving employees real-time recommendations to improve store operations and maximize customer satisfaction. The robot strategically navigates store aisles during regular store hours, safely and carefully moves alongside shoppers and employees.

Luke Tingley, Chief Information Officer Senior and Vice President at Hy-Vee, have said that “Hy-Vee has gained a very good reputation for their customer service and the employee-first culture they follow. So by employing Tally, we would continue to provide that excellent service to our customers by guiding our teams with real-time insights to make sure that our customers have the best experience wherever they visit us.”

Brand Bogolea, the CEO and Co-Founder of Simbe Robotics, has also shared his views on Tally as well. “According to me, no other retail solution supports store teams the way Tally does. The pandemic truly created a new normal for the grocery stores that have eliminated the need for a higher frequency and accuracy of in-store data.”