Simbe says inventory counting robots boost retail worker retention

Deploying inventory management technology across retail store chains can help to retain workers in a sector that struggles with staff turnover rates as high as 95%, according to a survey from autonomous mobile robot (AMR) vendor Simbe.

San Francisco-based Simbe’s “Tally” robot cruises stores aisles conducting inventory counts by scanning items with computer vision to identify exact product location, stock level, and pricing & promotion information. That information streamlines inventory management and store operations, the company says. 

Now, the results of the firm’s first annual “Store Team Technology Sentiment Report” show that deploying robots for inventory counts also helps retain workers. By automating monotonous tasks, Tally saves workers up to 50 hours each week, and 3 of 4 store managers say those employees better support shoppers as a result.

The statistics come from an April online survey of 174 store managers who have used the Tally robot for six months or more. 

In other results, a majority of employees reported feeling more fulfilled by their work since their stores adopted Tally technology. That improves store worker retention, since job fulfilment has been identified as a major variable keeping workers on the job, Simbe said.

In addition, Three fourths of store managers say Tally creates better processes for their team, through features such as pick path optimization, which lets store teams quickly and easily find items for online orders, which cuts order fulfillment times in half. 

Finally, 85% of store managers using Tally said that the robot helps them sell more and encourages consumer loyalty, by freeing up employees to help shoppers, Simbe said.