Iceland Foods is using AI to “keep shelves stocked” and manage its inventory through a partnership with tech firm Invent.ai.
Iceland has rolled out the Invent.ai platform across its operations to automate replenishment decisions and “turn complex sales, supply and demand data into real-time operational actions”.
“AI is giving us the visibility and control we’ve never had before,” said Matt Downes, supply chain director at Iceland Foods.
“We can now keep shelves consistently stocked with the products our customers want, reduce lost sales and improve the overall shopping experience across every store and distribution centre,” he added.
The work with Invent.ai – which operates in Turkey, the US and the UK – began last year with testing across specific categories, but the software has now been rolled out across all SKUs.
The forecasting platform “goes beyond traditional forecasting”, Invent.ai said, by “continuously learning from historical trends” and factoring in seasonal demand, promotions, new product launches and one-off anomalies. The resulting stock recommendations “reduce waste, minimise stockouts and maximise sales opportunities”, it added.
“Our focus is helping retailers translate complex data into tangible business outcomes,” said Ozgur Karabulut, head of solutions at Invent.ai. “By optimising inventory and automating replenishment decisions, we enable retailers to improve efficiency, increase product availability and deliver a better experience for every customer.”
Invent.ai has signed several UK retailer deals in recent months, including with yoga and activewear retailer Alo and sportswear retailer Footasylum. It counts Boots, Switzerland’s largest supermarket chain Migros, and Saudi Arabian food retailer Othaim among its clients.
Several supermarkets have been turning to AI to improve their forecasting capabilities. Sainsbury’s has been embedding AI into its Blue Yonder forecasting tool to improve its sourcing supply chain. Meanwhile, Morrisons has experienced significant improvements in its in-store availability after a widescale rollout of Focal Systems’ AI-powered shelf-edge cameras to monitor availability.
In February, Ocado e-commerce director Siobhan Bowie revealed the online pureplay supermarket is ramping up its use of AI across its operations, with improved availability one of its main aims.
However, the AI systems rolled out by supermarkets to improve forecasting data has made a “nightmarish” situation even worse and led to huge levels of food waste, suppliers have told the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
At the GCA annual conference in October last year, Adjudicator Mark White said he hoped the increasing use of AI would improve the accuracy of forecasts. However, in March The Grocer learnt a group representing more than 20 mid to large-sized suppliers met with White last month to complain the opposite was true, with Asda and Morrisons singled out as the biggest offenders.
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