The Opportunity

A major drug store chain known for pioneering store features recognized the need to address customer service to remain a leader in store operations.  The chain is the nation’s largest as ranked by sales and serves 4 million customers through its network of 4,800+ locations on a daily basis.  
 

Among the chain’s corporate strategy is the commitment to invest heavily in high-tech store systems to propel service up and costs down. 

Accordingly, the chain wanted to build on this foundation of technical innovations to drive financial success.  Specific program goals were to

Ü      increase profit per customer via a focus on convenience; and

Ü      achieve in-store service levels to reduce queue abandonment.

As stated by the chain’s senior management, “we have constantly evolved our stores to save people time for the important things in their lives.”  It was also important to the chain to work within the parameters of its mission statement which is “to offer the best drug store service in America…and to support all corporate and store efforts with the most innovative retail thinking, services, and technology.  The success we achieve will allow us to reinvest in our future and build long-term financial security for our employees and our shareholders.”

After looking at numerous solutions, the chain turned to Brickstream for a cost-effective and metric-driven solution.

Brickstream's Value

This drug chain emphasizes convenience to the customer, from how fast they get into the store, to how fast they get out, and how easily their shopping needs are met.  This focus on understanding and enabling the customer experience was a perfect fit for Brickstream and its Front Line Service Management and Real Time Service Management solutions. 

The Front Line Service Management solution continuously captures customer behavior within all service areas of the store.  Information about how many customers enter the store, where they go, how long they wait, and what they do is continuously gathered and turned into actionable reports. 

The Real Time Service Alerts work along with the actionable data gathered by Front Line Service Management to report this information as it is gathered to store management.  The reports are available through the Brickstream Dashboard or via Brickstream Alerts. 

Both systems are powered by BehaviorIQ™.  BehaviorIQ is Brickstream’s patented customer behavior measurement technology that continuously captures, transforms, and analyzes in-store customer activity.     

With access to real time data, a store manager is able to quickly make adjustments throughout the day to ensure the optimal level of performance for customer satisfaction. 

The Solution

To implement the Real Time Service Management solution, Brickstream installed a combination of sensors and cameras throughout three test stores.  These systems worked together to track customer activity through the stores and monitor wait times at cashier stations. 

To address the retailer’s concern for customer service and convenience, Brickstream established Real Time Alerts so that the store manager could continually monitor the number of customers in line.  In compliance with a corporate mandate that all cashier lines should have three or fewer customers at any time, a special Brickstream Alert was tied into the stores public address system.  Each time the line reach three people, a recording announced, “I see 3” to alert the cashiers to open another station. 

The Outcome

The “I see 3” project was an immediate success.  Based on the data from the Real Time Service Management solution, the store manager could revise staffing levels throughout the week and individual days.  Initial cashier acceptance and observance to the alerts over the public address system ensured that cashiers opened new stations as required throughout the day. 

However, after the initial impact of the “I see 3” PA Alerts, the cashiers got used to the announcements and began to ignore the call to open another cashier station. 

In response, Brickstream worked with the drug store chain to implement additional measures to incite compliance.  Cameras were placed over the cashier positions to monitor the number of checkout lines open.  Now the information regarding queue length and the cashier station status was integrated to form a complete view.

Knowing that the store manager was always aware of the number of people in line and the number of cashiers working, the cashiers were encouraged to actively listen for the “I see 3” alerts and respond quickly.  The stores with the Brickstream solutions have realized remarkable results.