How Intelligent Store Management Solutions Can Surface Problems & Prioritize Actions For Store Teams

Summary

Omni Talk Retail Podcast Summary

Episode Title: How Intelligent Store Management Solutions Can Surface Problems & Prioritize Actions For Store Teams
Host/Author: Omni Talk Retail
Release Date: April 29, 2025

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Introduction

In this insightful episode of Omni Talk Retail, hosts Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga engage in a deep conversation with Julian Mills, the CEO of Corso and a frequent guest on the podcast. Building on the previous week’s story about Corso’s partnership with Circle K, Julian delves into the rising significance and value of intelligent store management solutions in the modern retail landscape.

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The Rising Adoption of Intelligent Management Solutions

Key Drivers Behind Adoption Julian begins by addressing the increasing adoption of Corso’s intelligent management solutions among major retailers such as Circle K, EG, and Walmart Mexico. He highlights the complex nature of store management, where managers are inundated with daily challenges like late truck deliveries, incorrect planograms, and mismanaged promotions.

Quote:

“Running a store is really complex. There are so many things that come at you every day... you need to have a new way of running your store, a new way of using data to surface those problems and prioritize them to the person who can actually take action on them.”
— Julian Mills, 00:39

Julian emphasizes that traditional methods like spreadsheets, emails, or dashboards fall short in effectively addressing in-store issues. Instead, retailers require innovative solutions that leverage data to identify problems and prioritize actionable steps for store teams.

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Real-World Applications of Intelligent Management

Promotion Execution Case Study Chris prompts Julian to provide a tangible example of intelligent management in action. Julian shares a case involving a large grocery chain that struggled with promotion execution, where approximately 30% of promotions were not implemented correctly or on time.

Quote:

“We were working with a big grocer. They found that about 30% of promotions weren't being executed correctly or, you know, on a timely basis... suggesting to the relevant manager how much sales they're missing out by not acting on it.”
— Julian Mills, 01:40

Corso’s solution tracked sales ramp-up during promotions, alerted managers to underperforming promotions, and quantified lost sales opportunities. This not only highlighted implementation issues but also provided actionable insights for department and store managers. Additionally, Corso connected these issues to higher management levels, enabling district managers to offer coaching where needed.

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Building the Business Case for Intelligent Management

Cost-Effectiveness and ROI Anne raises a crucial point about forming a business case for such solutions, questioning how retailers can quantify the benefits. Julian responds by outlining Corso’s value proposition, noting that their solution costs approximately 3% of traditional methods like cameras or robots, which can be up to 30 times more expensive.

Quote:

“We're outrageously good value. We are about 3% of the cost of, you know, putting in cameras or robots or something like that... doing hundreds of use cases and they probably do a couple.”
— Julian Mills, 03:11

Direct Benefits:

1. Business Improvement: Achieving 50-120 basis points in sales uplift, 30 basis points in shrink reduction, 20% reduction in overtime, and a 20% improvement in store standards.
2. Time Savings: Managers save 10-15% of their time by eliminating the need to navigate multiple apps and reports, allowing them to focus on real-time issue resolution on the sales floor.
3. Simplified Technology Stack: Corso consolidates multiple applications into one platform, offering a 30% saving on technology management.

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Barriers to Adoption

Resistance to Outsourcing Data Management Anne observes that despite the intuitive benefits, not all retailers have adopted intelligent management solutions. Julian identifies two main objections:

1. Desire to Build In-House Solutions:

   • Many retailers believe they should develop their own data solutions. Julian counters this by pointing out the rarity of successful in-house implementations and questions the practicality of such endeavors.

   Quote:

   “A lot of retailers think anything to do with data they should be building themselves. I don't think anyone has done that yet, and the promise is getting a little bit thin.”
   — Julian Mills, 04:40

2. Access to IT Resources:

   • Retailers often face challenges in allocating IT resources for deploying new solutions. Julian cites Circle K’s experience, noting that Corso was implemented in approximately 25-30 hours of IT time—a minimal investment compared to other technologies.

   Quote:

   “Even getting, you know, three, four days of someone's time could be quite difficult.”
   — Julian Mills, 05:30

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Addressing Concerns and Misconceptions

Data Security and Proprietary Analytics Julian addresses retailers’ concerns about data security and the protection of proprietary analytics. He explains that Corso can be configured so that data remains within the retailer’s environment, alleviating fears about data leakage.

Quote:

“You can set up Corso so the data never leaves your environment... Corso is a platform you can use to set up and operationalize those things very quickly.”
— Julian Mills, 05:42

He further reassures retailers that their unique analytics methodologies can remain confidential while still benefiting from Corso’s platform, which facilitates quick deployment and scalability.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with hosts Chris and Anne expressing their appreciation for Julian’s insights, highlighting the intuitive and transformative potential of intelligent store management solutions. Julian’s articulate explanations and real-world examples effectively illustrate how Corso is revolutionizing store operations by leveraging data to streamline management processes, enhance efficiency, and drive significant business improvements.

Final Quote:

“Great stuff, Julian, man, so insightful and so articulate and it's just so intuitive. And I love having Julian on.”
— Anne Mezzenga, 06:26

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Key Takeaways

• Complexity of Store Management: Modern retail environments are fraught with daily operational challenges that traditional management tools fail to address effectively.
• Value Proposition of Intelligent Management: Solutions like Corso offer cost-effective, scalable, and efficient ways to manage store operations by leveraging data-driven insights.
• Building a Strong Business Case: Quantifiable benefits in sales uplift, shrink reduction, time savings, and technology simplification make a compelling case for adoption.
• Overcoming Adoption Barriers: Addressing concerns about in-house data solutions and IT resource allocation is crucial for wider adoption.
• Data Security and Confidentiality: Ensuring data remains within the retailer’s environment and protecting proprietary analytics are essential for gaining retailer trust.

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This episode of Omni Talk Retail provides a comprehensive understanding of how intelligent store management solutions can transform retail operations, making it a must-listen for retail professionals seeking to enhance their store management strategies.

Transcript

[A]

Foreigning us now for five insightful minutes is Julian Mills, a frequent omnitalk guest and the CEO of Corso. Coming off our story last week regarding Corso and Circle K, Julian is here to discuss the rise and value of an intelligent store management solution. Julian, let's start with this. You've partnered with some big retailers recently, like Circle K, I just mentioned, as well as EG and Walmart Mexico, to deploy intelligent management. What's driving these retailers to adopt your solution and to make these moves?

[B]

Yes. And Chris, first of all, it's great to be back. Thanks for having me. And second, yeah, we were on a bit of a roll. And those are just the ones we can talk about. There are others we can't. It's very exciting. And I think what's happening really is, as you know better than I do, running a store is really complex. There are so many things that come at you every day. The truck's late, you know, planogram's not laid out, promot, incorrectly done, you know, etc. Hundreds and hundreds of things for a store manager. And I think retailers are realizing that sending yet another spreadsheet or yet another email or yet another dashboard, et cetera, doesn't actually fix those problems in the store. You need to have a new way of running your store, a new way of using data to surface those problems and prioritize them to the person who can actually take action on them. And that, of course, is what we're doing, you know, with intelligent management.

[C]

Well, Julian, intelligent management always comes to life best when we get an example. Is there one that you can share with our audience today?

[B]

Yeah, sure. So I think a classic one would be something like promotion execution. So we were working with a big grocer. They found that about 30% of promotions weren't being executed correctly or, you know, on a timely basis. So what Corsair can do is basically track the kind of sales, ramp up of those promotions, and alert people if promotions aren't, you know, accelerating. If you're not seeing the sales of those items accelerating the way that you'd expect to given a promotion, and then suggest to the relevant manager, whether it's a department manager or a store manager, how much, you know, sales, they're missing out by not acting on it. Yeah. So you're using data to basically identify the fact that promotion isn't being correctly implemented and showing someone the opportunity cost of that. But of course, that's just, you know, one layer of it. You can also link it up and say to the district Manager. Well, you know, this store is having a problem implementing promotions. You know, they've had four of these kind of incidences in the last week. Maybe you should go and have a chat with them and give them some coaching so you can kind of link up layers of management in that way.

[A]

Got it. So it's basically like helping the store level cross their T's and dot their I's, which is, which is one reason why Ann and I, since we first met you guys, you know, five or six years ago, have been all in on this, on this idea. But, but being all in on the idea and making sense intuitively is one thing, but how do retailers that you're working with actually form the business case around this? Because I think a lot of people listening would probably be like, okay, how do I put numbers to this?

[B]

Yeah, well, the first thing is we're outrageously good value. Yeah. So we are about 3% of the cost of, you know, putting in cameras or robots or something like that. So they're 30 times as expensive. And we do hundreds of use cases and they probably do a couple. So that's the first one, which is that, you know, the cost on the benefit side is usually three things. So it's first of all, business improvement. So, you know, 50 to 120 basis point sales uplift, you know, 30 basis point shrink reduction, you know, 20% reduction in overtime, etc. 20% improvement in store standards, et cetera. So that's kind of direct benefits. The second one is time saving. So people are typically seeing 10 to 15% of a kind of manager's time or key holder's time saved because they're not having to go into the back room, pull up lots of different apps, look at lots of different reports, make sense to them, et cetera. They're literally on the sales floor walking around fixing issues live. And then the third one is stored technology stacks are quite complicated. Most people have five, six, seven different applications. They're running with walks and tasks, et cetera. We're increasingly seeing people turning those off and bringing everything into corso, and that's typically delivering about a 30% kind of it saving from that.

[C]

Julian, this seems so incredibly intuitive. Why isn't every retailer doing this right now?

[B]

Well, I think it's a great question, obviously. I think they should.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, we do too, I think.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, so. So I can't really say. I'd say the two main objections we hear are, one, I think a lot of retailers think anything to do with data they should be Building themselves. Yeah. And what I'd say is I've heard that so many times and I don't think anyone has done that yet, you know, and having been doing this for a while now, you know, I think that promise is getting a little bit thin. So if I were a retailer, I'd be going, really? Are you going to do it? And then I think the second thing is getting access to IT resource. You know, we're very quick to stand up. I mean, Circle K, I think, stood us up initially in about 25, 30 hours of it time, but it's just super busy at the moment. And so even getting, you know, three, four days of someone's time could be quite difficult.

[A]

Yeah, that's fascinating too, because there's really no competitive advantage to trying to do this yourself. It's just. It's just basically trying the data that you need to block and tackle in your store operations better. So, like, I don't understand why, what the need is to bring that in the house.

[B]

I think retailers typically have two concerns. The first one is that they don't want data to leave their environment. And I understand that. And candidly, you can set up Corsos so the data never leaves your environment. The second one is, oh, but maybe our data and analytics team has got some special secret sauce about how to detect promotions not correctly implemented. Again, that's fine. You can run that through Corso. Corso is a platform you can use to set up and operationalize those things very quickly and get them out to the field very quickly. You know, if it's secret to you, it's your special recipe, you know, that can remain confidential. So I don't think either of those concerns are really kind of valid, if that makes sense. But maybe we're not doing, you know, maybe we need to communicate that better.

[A]

Great stuff, Julian, man, so insightful and so articulate and it's just so intuitive. And I, I love having Julian on.

[C]

Thanks, Julian. Great.