Solutions in Action

Shaping Tomorrow's Retail

COVER STORY

Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions stands tall as the leading player in global market share for retail store technology. As retail’s first choice for integrated in-store solutions, Toshiba's cutting-edge commerce technology elevates customer engagement, revolutionizes the in-store experience, and facilitates rapid digital transformation. Among the trailblazing businesses that have chosen Toshiba as their go-to provider, here are some notable customers who are redefining retail. By harnessing the full potential of Toshiba's platform, they envision a renewed retail environment that fosters deeper connections with their valued customers.

#1  

Worldwide share of EPOS Installations

3.0 mil +

POS and self-checkout units installed worldwide

#2

Worldwide self-checkout installations

60%

of Top 25 Retailers Worldwide are Toshiba Clients

Weis Markets (NYSE: WMK) has adopted Toshiba's ELERA™ Commerce Platform to deliver a dynamic, agile environment featuring unified commerce, loyalty, promotions, and a frictionless produce recognition experience for its shoppers. The unified shopping experience will touch Weis Markets’ e-commerce platform and 197 brick-and-mortar stores, with more than 2,500 retail checkout touchpoints, including point-of-sale (POS), Self-Checkout/Dual Use Lanes, and Mobile throughout its footprint. “We’ve selected the ELERA™ platform to efficiently enhance our overall customer experience because it supports scalability in deploying customer focused solutions,” said Greg Zeh, CIO & Senior Vice President at Weis Markets. “That’s important when you consider point of sale is a crucial customer touch point, and one that is the key to offering a strong customer experience.” Weis selected ELERA™ because of the software benefits it will achieve by unifying the overall shopping experience with eCommerce integrations, loyalty and promotions, and various other touchpoints in the store. These tie seamlessly to the company's existing POS hardware infrastructure without disruption. Building on the trust established over a 30-year relationship with Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions and its partner Pomeroy IT Solutions, Weis selected ELERA™ because of the software benefits it will achieve by unifying the overall shopping experience with eCommerce integrations, loyalty and promotions, and various other touchpoints in the store. These tie seamlessly to the company's existing POS hardware infrastructure without disruption.

Weis Markets

Home furnishings retailer Wayfair, an early adopter of the ELERA™ Commerce Platform, opened physical stores in 2022. The brick-and-mortar stores were meant to augment the digital experience. Since Wayfair had already built its own robust platform for the online business, the company wanted to manage all its data, catalog, pricing, and APIs and didn't want to pump data onto other platforms, thereby owning all the experiences. In its quest for the right platform to unify online and in-store, Wayfair embraced Toshiba's ELERA™, which provided the flexibility that Wayfair was looking for. "You [Toshiba] had all the right hooks. We were able to iterate and build things quickly," said Kevin O'Riordan, Head of Physical Retail and Supply Chain Engineering at Wayfair, while speaking at NRF 2023 earlier this year. "The other thing is we wanted to build a checkout from the associate perspective to make it easy for our customers. When you download the Wayfair app and buy a bunch of furniture for your home, you don't go through a training course. It is seamless. We wanted this kind of 'no training' mantra for the front-end user experience. The ELERA™ platform was able to keep up on that front, and we got good results.” He further discussed the digital transformations at Wayfair and how it is driving to enrich the shopper experience. He highlighted how cutting-edge unified commerce platforms accelerate retail transformation.

Wayfair

A couple of years ago, America's leading retail pharmacy with nearly 10,000 locations, CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), deployed the Toshiba Self-Checkout System 7 solution, to improve operational throughput and reduce shopper interventions, with the ultimate goal of improving the customer’s overall store experience. "Through our investment in self-checkout solutions we are able offer both the speed and convenience expected at checkout, while also freeing our experienced store associates to help customers with their needs as they shop in our stores. Combined with Toshiba’s dedication to retail, and services expertise in store operations, they are one of our most strategic partners to help us as we evolve to meet the changing needs of our stores and customers," said Ray Auger, Strategic Advisor (formerly Senior Vice President, Retail Systems) at CVS Health.

CVS Pharmacy

PriceSmart, the largest operator of membership warehouse clubs in Central America, the Caribbean and Colombia is deploying Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions’ ELERA™ Commerce Platform in its stores throughout Latin America. “We’ve selected the ELERA™ platform to extend our comprehensive scope of services and offerings to our members,” says Juan Ignacio Biehl, Executive Vice President of Digital Experience and Chief Technology Officer, PriceSmart. By replacing its current legacy POS system with ELERA™ will enable PriceSmart to refresh its end-to-end solutions, deliver an engaging experience to customers and be prepared to add new functionalities and offerings as business and technology change. Supported by Toshiba's premier business partner Rhiscom, Toshiba will provide services and update the retailer's hardware and operating systems as part of a comprehensive end-to-end solutions refresh. Industry leaders in system integration, Rhiscom developers help ensure a seamless software implementation that will extend to consulting and maintenance services as the project progresses. The Toshiba TCx®Sky operating system will also be installed on the new hardware provided by Toshiba partner GBM.

PriceSmart

Mexican regional supermarket chain, Calimax turned to Toshiba's self-checkout solutions during the pandemic. "Toshiba's Self-Checkout devices have helped us a lot, because with a high turnover of cashiers and a lack of manpower in several of our stores, the fact that the customer can self-service, helps relieve the lanes. With just 1 person, we cover 4 positions," notes Roger Zapata Buen­l, Calimax IT Director. One of the great concerns while adopting self-checkout solutions is undoubtedly security, since there is a fear that shrinkage could increase. Calimax has been able to verify that Toshiba self-checkout solutions have loss prevention mechanisms (such as security on scales and scanning, guiding lights and audio, among others) to ensure that transactions guide the consumer at all times and identify exceptions in a timely manner, without reducing the agility of the process. To bring this solution to life, Calimax and Toshiba's Global Services team worked with LOC Software, a key and trusted technology partner. And in the future, Calimax is planning to use Toshiba's Enterprise Back Office System Server (eBOSS) for data analysis to test, measure, control and optimize its self-checkout solution to continue to provide enjoyable shopping experiences.

Calimax

Supermarket El Trébol in Chile is providing a better customer experience with Toshiba's Self-Checkout System 7. El Trébol has reduced checkout lines and wait times and created a more customer-focused checkout experience during regular and peak hours.


"Retailers in Chile must remain dynamic and flexible to adapt to customer shopping trends regarding technology, service, and store standards. Our consumers are sophisticated, and they have come to expect better service in terms of payments, automation, and self-checkout," says Xavier Amar, Administration and Finance Manager, El Trébol. "Our chain of stores initially focused on small towns within our region. As we grew, we saw the need to improve our standards and quality because we were competing with larger more established supermarket chains. The new self-checkout system is now a standard and preferred option for our shoppers, and the response has been very positive."


Each market presents unique dynamics for implementing chain-wide technology upgrades, and Toshiba worked with its distributor partner Rhiscom to address challenges unique to the region. Regarding the implementation, Amar said: "Collaboration with our development company was essential for the integration. Our footprint includes remote towns requiring sound logistics," continued Amar. "We felt supported by the Toshiba and Rhiscom team, who was always there to answer our call and troubleshoot with next-day or same-day support. We look forward to continued collaboration with Toshiba and Rhiscom to support the future of our stores."

El Trébol

AUG 2023

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