Concerned for retail customers arriving in-store to find out of stock or limited availability items, Stax Trade Centres have been working hard to develop new software to drastically improve the customer experience. 

As the UK’s largest non-food wholesaler, Stax stocks over 40,000 items from more than 1,000 brands. Understandably, stock management is a major discipline and plays a significant part in customer satisfaction.

Focussing on eliminating gaps on shelves and providing shoppers with quick and actionable explanations of where stock is, the team found three main causes of empty shelves. These were goods in branch but not yet on the shop floor, Incorrect stock figures due to error or theft, and products either awaiting delivery or delayed.

Recognising the first two reason could be addressed in-store, Stax created their own bespoke piece of management software - Zap The Gap - which allows the customers’ needs to be fulfilled far more quickly.

Zap The Gap now allows members of staff in each branch to scan the shelf-edge barcode of empty lines and provides them with actionable information.

Stock identified as being in branch can be located and brought onto the shop floor, Incorrect stock figures and items lost through theft can be adjusted to trigger reorders. Or in the case of delayed stock, buyers and range negotiators can be informed to follow up with suppliers.

The result is a more timely response to gaps on the shelf which will give Stax customers a notably improved experience across all branches

“Zap The Gap is a prime example of Stax’s ongoing investment in digital transformation to improve customer service and the retail experience,” explained David Hibbert, Joint Managing Director of Stax Trade Centres.

“We’re already seeing big improvements, with a noticeably reduced number of empty shelves across our branches. And we’re getting great feedback from retail customers who have more confidence that the stock figures will be correct.”