Much like the rest of the world, consumers in Latin America are feeling the pinch of inflation. When doing their grocery shopping, then, they’re always looking for ways to make their money go further. The McKinsey report "The state of grocery retail in Latin America” showed that 71% of Latin American consumers look to save money with every grocery shop and actively seek discounts and promotional offers. For supermarket chains, the challenge is to keep costs under control while delivering the high value, connected experience that their customers now expect. The solution is robust and scalable retail management technology.
End-to-end retail software like LS Central gives supermarkets the capabilities they need to capture detailed customer information, automate and simplify functions like loyalty and promotions, and implement a modern Point of Sale (POS). Here are four key benefits that Latin American grocery chains have experienced since implementing LS Central:
1.Facilitate growth
Many Latin American supermarkets need a retail management system that can support growth and expansion as they open new branches.
For El Asturiano in Mexico, it was essential to upgrade to a platform that could link data between its stores and headquarters. The supermarket chain currently operates more than 350 convenience stores and supermarkets across Mexico and plans to open a further 130 new stores each year. LS Central allows it to manage transactions, centralize information, launch and manage promotional offers and seamlessly integrate all processes within a centralized environment.
“From a single system, we can see everything related to any operations of the company,” said Nicolas Huerta Perez, ICT Manager at El Asturiano. “This gives us better visibility across our chain.”
2.Enhance the customer experience
To remain competitive and deliver excellent customer service, supermarkets need a robust and agile POS that is user friendly and easy to configure.
Supermarket chain La Colonia is based in Nicaragua. They run a fresh fruit and vegetable collection and processing center, bakery, and fast-food production plant among other services. One of the country’s best-known supermarkets, they rely on technology to constantly improve their customer journey. Since they began to use LS Central as their management system, they have increased their ability to meet customer’s needs with improved promotions management, a user-friendly POS interface, and a holistic view of operations. LS Central integrates multiple facets of the business into a single software solution, meaning that La Colonia now reacts speedily to market trends. With LS Central, La Colonia benefits from:
- Streamlined inventory replenishment across multiple stores
- Optimized pricing based on market conditions and customer behavior
- Personalized offers and discounts tailored to the customer
- Significant savings and increased efficiency.
“The ability to react promptly and effectively to market trends and customer demands was of utmost importance to us,” said Francisco Mantica, IT Director at La Colonia.
3. Save time and money through automation
LS Central supports functions like self-service kiosks and contactless delivery without requiring complex integrations.
La Colonia has boosted productivity and efficiency, saving around 30% of the time it would usually spend on non-value-added activities. The company has also saved valuable time on bookkeeping: it now takes half the time to prepare bank account reconciliations.
Grocery stores and supermarkets can cut down on labor costs and do away with costly manual tasks when they automate functions within their establishment. El Asturiano saved substantial costs since making the switch to LS Central, implementing smart features like approval workflow functionality, which automated and systemized the purchasing process.
“Most of our processes were handled manually and separately, whereas today with LS Central we are automating almost 100% of our processes,” said Nicolas Huerta Perez, ICT Manager at El Asturiano.
4. Gain flexibility and control across stores
Supermarket chain J. Astaphans, one of the most well-known stores in the Dominican Republic, offers household items, hardware, business supplies and appliances alongside its grocery range. With LS Central, the company is finally able to handle and trace cross-store transactions while offering an enhanced customer experience that outperforms its competitors. It captures detailed customer information to improve company decision-making and launch successful promotions.
“Meeting and surpassing customer expectations remain the priority in our business. With LS Retail technology it’s easy to anticipate customer needs and deliver,” said Viktor V. Hunte, Group IT Manager at J. Astaphans.
Would you like to know how LS Retail can support your supermarket chain in Latin America and beyond?
Get in touch with our team of experts.
