A digital future in excellence and committed customer service

Dmall Life (China) Digital Technology wins at Retail Asia Awards 2022.

Adoption of digital initiatives accelerated as the need became much direr with the Covid-19 pandemic forcing consumers into their homes for their safety. Whilst most retail companies scrambled to make sense of the situation and come up with a way to overcome said challenges, Dmall Life (China) Digital Technology（DMALL) introduced their DMALL Shelf Display Management System and digital transformation initiative, winning the Digital Initiative of the Year - China Award and the Customer Service Initiative of the Year - China Award at the Retail Asia Awards 2022. 

The awards programme recognises major breakthroughs, innovations, and key players in the retail industry of Asia, and DMALL distinguished themselves through their Shelf Display Management System for Digital Stores and their digital transformation for Guangdong Sai Yi Convenience Stores Limited (7-Eleven in Guangdong Province, China, also known as 7-Eleven Guangdong) that revolutionised the way business is done. 

Digital Initiative 

The shelf management solution and accurate planogram are crucial elements in retail merchandising, which can enhance the in-store operation efficiency and reduce the frustration of the staff. Retailers use different methods such as Excel, Blue Yonder (formerly JDA), Spaceman, and some automatic drawing software with AI, to generate planograms and place the products according to the planograms. 

DMALL provides an industry-leading closed-loop solution for digital shelf management. From headquarters planning to store execution, it enables the entire process to be traceable and assessable, making the overall shelf display digital and intelligent. 

By breaking the information silos, DMALL helps the efficient collaboration of the entire retail chain, improves the efficiency of enterprise shelf space management, and improves store productivity. Structured information such as shelf location and shelf type is used in the system to realise the online management of massive offline shelf resources and location correspondence. 

From the layout analysis and planning to the store execution, the DMALL Shelf Management Solution has created the life cycle management of planogram to achieve traceability of the business flow, and bridge the gap between headquarters' planning and store execution. Store staff can receive task notifications on the mobile phone through a visual task mechanism, and place products according to different colour labels, and through the online feedback function, between the headquarters and stores, the execution process creates a communication channel and reduces the coordination cost. 

AI image recognition technology is used to intelligently compare the difference between the actual shelf display and the planogram in the store. Based on the monitor model of shelves, commodities, and vacancies, the solution dynamically calculates the inspection indicators and quantifies the execution effect of store display by the standard. 

More than 10 retailers have deployed the solution in their 3,000 stores in various retail formats. This solution connects multiple retail scenarios e.g. procurement, selection, ordering, replenishment, price tag, etc., realising efficient collaboration between retail enterprise headquarters and stores, effectively driving the quality and efficiency of retail enterprise store shelf space management, and helping digital transformation and upgrading of retailers. 

7-Eleven Guangdong’s Digital Future 

With the development of the digital economy, digital transformation has become not only the inherent demand driven by the characteristics of the retail industry but also a recognised trend of the retail industry. 

In the convenience store industry, 7-Eleven has always been a benchmark. However, a company like 7-Eleven Guangdong also faces many challenges--evolving consumer behaviour, rising rental and labour costs, and higher requirements on the efficiency of the supply chain, which needs to improve in-store productivity and labour efficiency, optimise supply chain performance, and reduce labour and other costs. 

Since October 2020, DMALL has improved and upgraded 7-Eleven Guangdong on multiple levels through its deep understanding and rich practical experience in the retail industry. Based on the original services, the DMALL Integrated Retail Cloud was launched for all stores and three distribution centres of 7-Eleven Guangdong as it enables 7-Eleven Guangdong to realise the full- process and all-factor digitalisation from consumers, stores, supply chains, franchisees, warehousing, and logistics to headquarters management. 

All employees of 7-Eleven Guangdong install a platform APP on their phones to realise the mobilisation and paperlessness of staff operations and store management, whilst the Omnichannel Middle Platform of DMALL Integrated Retail Cloud enables 7- Eleven Guangdong to connect with many third-party platforms at the same time, to realise the real-time synchronisation of the product information, inventory, and marketing. 

7-Eleven Guangdong has upgraded and created a new membership system. For different types of members, it does omnichannel refined management, and three distribution centres of 7-Eleven have improved their sorting efficiency after the launch of the Smart Warehousing and Logistics Management System of DMALL Integrated Retail Cloud. For instance, in one DC, the full case sorting rate was increased by 30%.  

DMALL has customised the franchisee system module for 7-Eleven Guangdong, enabling franchisees to manage stores online in the mobile terminal system, and on September 23, 2021, DMALL and 7-Eleven Guangdong announced a strategic cooperation, which means 7-Eleven Guangdong has completed the system changeover in nearly 1500 stores and 3 distribution centres in Foshan, Dongguan, and Guangzhou in half a year.

The 17th Retail Asia Awards is presented by Retail Asia. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2023 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding retail initiatives, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].