Retail Business Services T H E I M P O R TA N C E O F C O L L A B O R AT I O N
Retail Business Services: the importance of collaboration
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NOVEMBER 2019
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R E TA I L B U S I N E S S S E R V I C E S , A N A H O L D D E L H A I Z E U S A C O M PA N Y
Paul Scorza, Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of Information Technology, discusses collaborative approaches to grocery retail tech integration
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etail Business Services was launched in January 2018 to support Ahold Delhaize USA’s consumer-facing grocery retail
companies and online grocery retailer, Peapod. Retail Business Services provides innovative solutions by leveraging scale and expertise to ensure the company’s partners can focus on developing their local brands. “Since our first day,” Scorza says, “IT has had a seat at the table of the leadership team. Which has enabled us to successfully support these brands.” Paul Scorza is the Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of IT at Retail Business Services, having previously worked as the CIO and EVP for Ahold USA prior to the merger between Ahold and Delhaize in 2016. He brings with him 32 years’ experience at IBM, a job he took immediately after graduating college and in which he performed several software and service-related roles.
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EMPOWERING THE ART OF RETAIL
toshibacommerce.com
Toshiba is proud to work together with partners like Getronics and Retail Business Services to lead the way in delivering more customer-focused shopping experiences. Through these dedicated partnerships, we are transforming retail by creating unique and compelling customer experiences.
INNOVATION TRANSFORMS THE CHECKOUT EXPERIENCE AT AHOLD DELHAIZE USA BRAND STORES Retail Business Services, an Ahold Delhaize USA company, is a leader in the supermarket industry and well known for its eye toward innovation, passion for great food and dedication to delivering value to its customers. Retail Business Services had a goal from its local brand partners - to increase throughput, front-end lane utilization and improve the customer’s experience. Based on long-term relationships and proven capabilities, Retail Business Services turned to Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions and Getronics, plus other key partners to achieve their goals and vision for its stores. The result: a unique convertible lane that transforms checkout. All lanes open, all the time. Retail Business Services came to its partners with a clear vision: all lanes open, all the time. With convertible dual-use checkout lanes, Retail Business Services was able to provide a technology solution to its brand partners to make the most of the square footage in stores by replacing attended lanes that were only used some of the time, with lanes that could be used 100% of the time for either self-service or cashier-led experiences. Through this solution, the stores can reduce lines during checkout and give customers the ability to choose the way they experience checkout; whether they want the personal touch of a cashier-attended lane, or the convenience and privacy of a self-checkout lane – all while preserving the speed and full function of their existing attended lanes. “Our partnership together goes back many years, but this project exemplifies our relationship as trusted partners and leaders in the industry. Our commitment was not only to project success, but also positive impact on store operations and bottom line results,” said Bill Campbell, VP, Head of Americas at Toshiba. Leading Together To achieve this, Toshiba leveraged their extensive retail store knowledge to contribute software development and hardware engineering expertise, Getronics acted as the Systems Integrator providing project management, engineering and software testing capability, and another existing partner designed the customized cabinet. The challenge? Create software functionality that allowed store associates to switch modes from Toshiba’s Checkout Environment for Consumer Service (CHEC), a software application designed to optimize self-checkout, to their Toshiba POS Application. To ensure cashier-led transactions continued at full speed, Toshiba modified existing software application functionality to suit unique specifications. Toshiba leveraged its TCx™ Elevate digital platform ensuring a seamless end-to-end solution to power the front-end allows cash tender during both transaction types. Toshiba customized communications to create a unique solution with multiple applications and hardware devices.
Close collaboration among the teams was the key to the successful design, development and deployment. “We are delighted to have contributed to the teamwork, integration and collaboration that supported Retail Business Services vision for helping their store brand partners transform their front-end,” said Aaron Hagler, Getronics’ Vice President of Software and Retail Solutions. To perfect the solution, Retail Business Services conducted prototype, lab, and in-store pilots, and gathered feedback from shoppers and associates. With this valuable insight in hand, the team refined functions to reduce operational risk in the rollout and prove value to the business.
Through extensive partner collaboration, we deployed an innovative technology solution that supports our strategy, Leading Together, while delivering our promise of a better place to shop.” Paul Scorza, EVP, Information Technology and CIO for Retail Business Services. When the rollout began, Retail Business Services ordered approximately 40 lanes. Less than a year later, they have placed over 435 dual-use lanes in 175 stores across Ahold Delhaize USA’s local brands, including Giant Martins (Carlisle, Penn.), Giant Food (Landover, Md.) and Stop & Shop. These convertible lanes have been met with glowing reviews from shoppers and cashiers alike. Shoppers have reported they appreciate the ability to choose their checkout method and skip the line while using the input belt to load large orders. Cashiers can scan a shopper’s cart quickly, with the added security and accuracy of cash recyclers for cash tender eliminating the complexity and time required to manage cash. In the end, Toshiba and Getronics stepped up as trusted partners and industry leaders to collaborate with Retail Business Services and partners to create a solution that exceeded expectations and delivered meaningful business value to the companies of Ahold Delhaize USA.
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“There’s a pull now where the stores are asking for innovation. Customers are demanding tech” — Paul Scorza, Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of Information Technology, Retail Business Services, an Ahold Delhaize USA company
The merger, he says, was an opportunity to confirm the company’s power of growth. While it did demand lengthy rationalization, bringing together the two IT systems, was a successful endeavour. The key was finding synergies. The merger ultimately allowed the corporation to increase investments in IT infrastructure, apply innovative initiatives, and bring new technology into its physical stores. “Ahold Delhaize USA recognizes the value of IT,” says Scorza. Collaboration is at the centre of success at Ahold Delhaize USA and Retail w w w.re t a i l busi ne ssse r vi c es . com
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New Retail Experience With Frictionless Checkout Store (FCS)
Today’s customers are looking for an incredible shopping experience inside the store that mirrors the online experience of shopping in a frictionless environment and virtual assistance that makes their shopping fun, interesting and engaging. UST Global Digital Retail team is constantly working on bringing innovative, practical, and cost-effective solutions for engaging customers while they are inside the brick-and-mortar store. Towards this, we have launched and implemented multiple interactive touchpoints that improve category margin, sales and leave the customer with a WOW experience with a reference to a supermarket chain. We see tremendous value of rolling out the solution across globally in convenience stores, universities, offices, fulfillment centers, and dense metropolitan cities.
UST Global aims to be a global partner in New Retail
Frictionless Checkout Store (FCS) is a cornerstone of our digital strategy to support the “New Retail” Patented technology enables end-to-end smart store solutions that offer personalized shopping experiences to the customer as well as improved store operation and labor efficiency An innovative shopping solution for brick-andmortar stores using computer vision, machine learning, and IoT UST Global along with its strategic partners including Intel, are behind implementing ‘FCS’ solution for the first store at the RBS office in Quincy,MA Vision sensors track which products customers pick up and put back, virtual baskets are updated accordingly Redefines the way people shop by eliminating the pain points of checkout lines and cashiers with algorithms, and customers’ digital accounts are automatically charged after exiting the stores
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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘THE NEXT GENERATION OF GROCERY RETAIL’ 11 Business Services. “You can’t get
have a good idea of what the brand
anything done without good partners,”
represents. Retail Business Services
affirms Scorza. From partnerships
develops tech in house whenever the
with local brands to collaborations
market fails to supply. Among this is
with other tech companies, these are
frictionless checkout, which allows
an integral part of Retail Business
customers to shop in-store without
Service’s business strategy. To ensure
having to pay at a checkout lane. Using
a strong partnership with local brands,
a mobile phone or scanner, they have a
Retail Business Services created the
preselected payment method associ-
Business Relationship Manager (BRM)
ated to their loyalty card and can leave
role, an account manager that works
through a special lane as soon as
out of local brands’ headquarters,
they are finished picking their goods.
attending staff meetings, and feeding
Scorza compares it to using an EZ
information back to developers and
pass when driving on toll roads.
service providers so the IT team can
Partnerships have allowed Retail w w w.re t a i l busi ne ssse r vi c es . com
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Business Services to keep on top of IT innovation. “One of the things you do as an IT organization is staff all the work you have to do,” he says. “You want a flexible workforce so that they can bring in skills that you may not have. I generally run 15-20% of my workforce using that flexible resource.” When it comes to project management needs, Retail Business Services turns to Apex and Sevenstep. To run a data center to support the
“ One of the things you do as an IT organization is staff all the work you have to do, and you want a flexible work-force so that they can bring in skills that you may not have” — Paul Scorza, Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of Information Technology, Retail Business Services, an Ahold Delhaize USA company
applications for Giant Food, GIANT/ MARTIN’S and Stop & Shop, both for application maintenance and support,
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Paul Scorza Paul Scorza is the CIO and EVP of Information Technology for Retail Business Services. Scorza has 40 years of experience in IT. Before joining Retail Business Services, Scorza was EVP, IT and CIO for Ahold USA. Prior to that, he spent 32 years at IBM in leadership positions including VP of Global Delivery, VP and Transformation Executive for Finance, Global Financing, Technical Support, and Application Portfolio Management, VP Americas, and Application Solutions Delivery Leader. Scorza holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a combined MBA and an M.S. degree in computer science from Marist College.
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Retail Business Services relies on DXC.
to change over POS systems six and
DXC has a decade long relationship
half years ago, Getronics was closely
with Ahold Delhaize USA compa-
involved. “I watched them install eve-
nies that has evolved over the years.
rything,” says Scorza. “Getronics was
Getronics and Toshiba have also been
truly a partner in the implementation
important to Retail Business Services
and cared about our business as much
both from a POS system and manu-
as we do.” The company also works
facturing standpoint. Toshiba runs
with Salesforce on its IT infrastructure.
point on the system for Giant Food,
“Salesforce is another great IT partner,”
GIANT/MARTIN’S and Stop & Shop,
affirms Scorza. “We have used their
while NCR focuses on Food Lion and
Mulesoft software for data integration
Hannaford. Getronics and Toshiba
and each brand has access to their
helped develop the customized code
Marketing cloud platform. Both tools
Retail Business Services needed
provide access to key information to
within the loyalty scheme that gave
drive business at each local brand.”
customers points off gasoline. When
Retail Business Services also works
legacy company, Ahold USA, needed
with other key partners, such as w w w.re t a i l busi ne ssse r vi c es . com
Wipro for support and development
wedded to a ‘must be invented here’
resources with key tools,
mentality,” says Scorza. “People
like Kronos.
stepped up as trusted partners.”
When Retail Business Services
The goal, Scorza says, is to ensure
wanted to develop a dual lane system
customers have a good experience
that could double as a self-checkout or
when they visit the stores. To keep
associate checkout lane, it partnered
up with innovation, Retail Business
with Toshiba and Getronics. Toshiba
Services uses a “fast follower” phi-
provided software development
losophy as well. “We don’t always want
and hardware engineering expertise;
to be cutting-edge,” explains Scorza.
Getronics brought software test
“Sometimes we let other people do the
capability and project management.
cutting-edge stuff, spend lots of money,
Ultimately, after prototyping, lab
and then we follow closely behind
work, and in-store pilots, the pro-
with something we know works more
ject was a success. It is in 145 retail
efficiently and at a fraction of the cost.”
stores and 380 lanes. “This was a
Retail Business Service’s lunchbox
good success story. No one was
frictionless store is similar to Amazon Go. w w w.re t a i l busi ne ssse r vi c es . com
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21 Customers walk into a store, scan in using an app, pick what they want, and leave; no scanning of products required. UST Global was a key partner in the development of the frictionless pilot store technology. The world’s relationship with IT has changed in recent years, says Scorza. When trying to implement wireless capability in-store half a decade ago, he was met with some resistance. “In 2013, we created any kind of innovative solution because you couldn’t get the stores to adopt it,” says Scorza. “The industry just wasn’t ready. I was always trying to push solutions out w w w.re t a i l busi ne ssse r vi c es . com
R E TA I L B U S I N E S S S E R V I C E S , A N A H O L D D E L H A I Z E U S A C O M PA N Y
“ You can’t get anything done without good partners” — Paul Scorza, Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President of Information Technology, Retail Business Services, an Ahold Delhaize USA company 22
2018
Year founded
$44bn
Parent company, US segment, 2018
2,700
Approximate number of employees there. However, knowing this was com-
that customize in-store experiences.
ing, we partnered with Verizon to put
“We’ve got a bright horizon here,”
wireless capability into all Ahold USA
believes Scorza. “There’s so much
stores. This was their first entry into a
technology in areas you’d never expect
grocery store and Verizon did a great
there to be. You get out of college with
job partnering with us to make it hap-
a computer science degree and start
pen.” It’s completely the opposite now.
looking for IT companies. Never in my
It’s a pull versus push. There is a pull
wildest dreams would I have imagined
now where the stores are asking for
I would enjoy IT in a retail company. It
innovation. Customers are demanding
has been incredibly exciting here.”
tech.” This change has allowed Retail Business Services to shift its focus to creating an omnichannel experience. Artificial intelligence is the next step, Scorza affirms, prediction models w w w.re t a i l busi ne ssse r vi c es . com
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Retail Business Services 1365 Hancock Street Quincy Massachusetts, 02169 USA T +00 00 000 000 www.retailbusinessservices.com