Total Tools

Ajlal Khalid

As a postgraduate student studying IT at Monash University, I worked part-time for one of Australia’s biggest retailers, Woolworths Limited. By the time I graduated, I had gained extensive experience in all aspects of retail operations, from stock receiving to replenishment, from operating back-end store systems to point of sale operations, from managing the entire store as a store manager to closing daily cash. Right after graduation, I had the opportunity to join the retail system support department for one of Australia’s biggest tool retailers, Total Tools Importing. I now had the opportunity to bring my on-floor experience to a support office. Currently, I am managing the retail system support team at Total Tools, and part of my role involves assisting the IT team in streamlining all IT processes with the end goal of increasing both customer satisfaction and company revenue.

The Need of the Hour

In today’s rapidly changing environment, retailers face an urgent need to overhaul their technical architecture and operating model to keep pace with the changing landscape. Additionally, I aim to enable the future and be a pioneer in leading the advancements in all areas within a retail environment. Most importantly, to realize the importance of data and digital, complemented by the implementation of the right technology that will ultimately benefit customers. In my profession, I have recognized the importance of sustainability and digital enablement. If technology can help save the planet and save retailers dollars, that technology is certainly going to be the winner. A visionary leadership team alongside an efficient and competent IT department are the core ingredients required to make a delicious tech cuisine. Fortunately, Total Tools had both!

Cut-Throat Competition in Sales

One big pain point, for any retailer, is the ongoing, never-ending, and tiring process of price changes, specifically, the physical ticket-changing process throughout the shop floor. In the competitive Australian consumer market, retailers change product prices to beat the competition and win sales. Once prices are pushed from the support office, store staff must oversee the printing of each batch, ensure the tickets are organized in a certain way to make it easier to place them on the shelf spaces, manually update tickets on the shelves for hundreds of products at a time, and ensure correctness of this mammoth task with military precision. This becomes a tedious task, especially when facing problems as small as running out of the printer roll at the store. This means running the entire job again for that store from the support office, wasting critical time. This adds to staff fatigue and costs retailers in man hours, not to mention the obvious harm to the planet caused by all this paper being wasted every other day in the form of obsolete tickets at hundreds of stores at a time!

"A visionary leadership team alongside an efficient and competent IT department are the core ingredients required to make a delicious tech cuisine"

Technology to the Rescue

This problem necessitates a revolutionary new technology to improve overall efficiency. To address this issue at Total Tools, the foresight of the senior leadership certainly prevailed. Nothing short of science fiction in the retail sector, electronic shelf labels (ESL) technology comprises small display screens that replace the old paper shelf labels. These come in various sizes, allowing them to function as shelf labels, show cards, features & benefits cards, special promo display tickets, etc. They also effortlessly accommodate special banners such as ‘Clearance,’ ‘As Advertised,’ ‘Bulk Price’ and ‘Special Price’ etc. ESLs are wirelessly connected to the primary enterprise resource planning system and communicate with the system via Wi-Fi to display price changes from the support office in front of the customer without any human intervention! Price changes can now occur as frequently as the leadership team decides, saving significant time and effort in stores. It also enhances efficiency at various levels. This technology is truly a game-changer staying ahead of the competition!

Word of Advice

The modern retail landscape demands a proactive approach to innovation and technology adoption to stay ahead in the competitive market. As we witness the emergence of fully automated stores and futuristic technologies, such as auto-scanning grocery carts and stock-replenishing robots around the world, it's evident that embracing these advancements is essential for success. To secure a leading position, retailers must not only adopt but also adapt swiftly to these changes. Those who effectively integrate these technologies into their strategies will undoubtedly emerge as winners in the dynamic retail sector, positioning themselves ahead of the competition.