Natan Tabak, Wakefern’s senior vice president and chief information officer since 1991, manages Information technology, e-commerce, digital innovation, new business initiatives and the wholesale business. He sits on Wakefern’s communication committee, which oversees IT, and works closely with ShopRite owners in figuring out the best technology choices for the members as a whole — choices that must ultimately be approved by the Wakefern board before they become the standard across the 215-store membership as well as Wakefern’s corporately owned stores, including 34 ShopRites and 50 discount PriceRite stores.
Wakefern is a member of the Rapid Recall Exchange (rapidretailexchange.org), a product-recall network designed for the food industry by the Food Marketing Institute and GS1 US. The cooperative wholesaler receives recall notices from manufacturers via the exchange, which it can disseminate to member stores.
Wakefern has developed as tablet-based mobile system to enhance productivity at its seven distribution centers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Wakefern’s warehouse management system is home-grown, enabling it to ship one million cases a week at a high service level to its members and some non-Wakefern retailers.
Wakefern employs the Vocollect voice-directed selection system in its warehouses.
Wakefern owns one of the largest trucking fleets in the Northeast, serving ShopRite stores in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
Wakefern’s growing Shop from Home e-commerce service is now offered through 162 ShopRite stores – up from 64 stores two years ago-- where orders are selected and picked up by shoppers or (in most cases) delivered.
Datalogic’s LaneHawk system, an intelligent video system that rings up bottom-of-the-basket (BOB) items, is deployed at 167 out of the 250 ShopRite stores.
The Clark ShopRite offers Wi-Fi in its sit-down café.
The Clark ShopRite offers the Dexter touchscreen deli ordering system.
Digital screens are used to promote products in fresh departments at the Clark ShopRite.
Scanners around the Clark store allow shoppers to check prices on products, see how much money is left on ShopRite gift cards and check point totals on loyalty cards.
This “now serving” display tells deli customers who have strolled over to the dairy department which number is being served back in the deli.
As part of the computer-generated ordering (CGO) system, store employees use a handheld terminal to track inventory, sales and orders, and make adjustments for promotions and other unplanned circumstances; the device also suggests where product is available at nearby stores to make up for shortfalls.