Yango Deli Tech helps Nana scale dark store model
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Yango Deli Tech helps Nana scale dark store model

Successful implementation of Yango Deli Tech’s solutions has helped Nana improve in areas of stock keeping, inventory management, order fulfilment, last mile deliveries, business visibility.

At the core of Yango Deli Tech’s solution stack is a comprehensive warehouse management system.

Business improvements made by Nana

  • Reduced number of missing items per day and faultless stock accuracy.
  • Purpose-built dark store picker helped to decrease time needed for order preparation by more than 35%.
  • Automated control of expiration dates has eliminated the chance of receiving expired goods.
  • Introduction of auto order and demand planning systems has improved ability to forecast demand.
  • Lack of visibility into operations has been addressed by implementation of business dashboards with key metrics.
  • Improved visibility has helped to make informed decisions, implement strategies, drive better results.
  • Nana has improved courier and delivery operations by using an AI demand prediction model to arrange delivery shifts.
  • The integration of batching and automatic shift planning has resulted in increase of hourly orders delivered by couriers by more than a quarter.
  • Nana understands the importance of data-driven inventory management in optimising operations and ensuring positive customer experiences.

Nana is a household online grocery delivery platform in Saudi Arabia, with more than 22,000 products arranged and categorised to facilitate the process of buying groceries for every household. Nana includes three services, the Nana Express grocery section for daily needs, the Nana Hyper supermarket section for weekly and monthly needs, and the Nana Cards service that provides thousands of recharge cards.

Nana operates in more than 18 cities in Saudi Arabia and is characterised by quick delivery times. The company is expanding its coverage to ensure that even more households enjoy the quality service that the company is known for. Over 500 employees manage its operations.

In the dynamic realm of e-grocery, it is crucial to be able to accurately manage your inventory levels.

Nana has recently implemented Yango Deli Tech’s solution stack into its operations. The implementation followed a pilot project conducted at one of Nana’s dark stores. The pilot test that implemented Yango Deli Tech’s Warehouse Management System demonstrated a reduction in average missing items per day of 97% and faultless stockkeeping.

“In the dynamic realm of e-grocery, it is crucial to be able to accurately manage your inventory levels,” commented Max Avtukhov, CEO at Yango Deli Tech, on the success of the pilot implementation.

“It is becoming ever so critical for companies within the e-grocery industry to harness the power of technology and data to drive efficiencies,” remarked Sami Alhelwah, Nana Co-Founder and CEO, about the early benefits that Nana has achieved.

Dark store model

When Nana was first launched, it was an online grocery aggregator where the core of its business was to deliver groceries from key retailers in Saudi Arabia. This required a specific integration between systems in terms of inventory management and courier support.

As the operations of Nana matured, it decided to redefine its business model and opened its own dark store network. The benefit of this would have been to provide an end-to-end grocery delivery experience for its customers, within its operational control.

A dark store is a brick-and-mortar location that has been closed to visitors and turned into a centre for fulfilment operations. By not having to cater to in-person shoppers, dark stores allow all their available space to be converted into store inventory, thereby opening a business opportunity for rapid delivery of online orders.

A dark store is a brick-and-mortar location that has been closed to visitors and turned into a centre for fulfilment operations.

This concept is not new and has emerged as brick-and-mortar retailers abandoned their legacy stores and moved towards e-commerce. Dark stores went through another wave of growth during the pandemic. Dark stores are best suited for home delivery with same day delivery but also offer curb side and in-store pickup.

This business model requires highly accurate inventory management, semi-automated picking, order consolidation, route mapping, route optimisation, and rapid delivery.

However, the move by Nana towards building and managing its own deliveries from its dark stores required it to migrate from its legacy applications. Many of its previous operations and process, built around third-party deliveries, were redundant in the new model now integrated around its dark stores.

For example, an integrated warehouse management system has an inbuilt checkout feature and therefore the POS checkout terminal, required previously, was now redundant.

Scaling operations around dark stores where rapid checkout and rapid delivery are fundamental, requires perfect technology integration across all systems, all orders and deliveries, and all order reversals if there is a cancelation or failed delivery.

Analysing delivery data can help identify bottlenecks in the delivery process.

Growing pain points

As it moved to the new business model around dark stores, integration and stock discrepancies emerged across the supply chain, commercial and operational functions. Nana implemented new systems for inventory and delivery, but synchronisation of data remained a challenge.

Visibility of every aspect of operations is an important factor in such high velocity operations that Nana was entering. At the beginning this was also a limitation and pain point.

The usage of multiple systems across the operations increased the discrepancies in stock keeping, stock replenishments, and created inefficiencies. Lack of system integration meant that Nana had to resort to manual inventory management without real time visibility into stocks impacting order booking, stockouts and over stocking.

Variation in reported inventory levels and actual stock availability meant there were incidents of failed deliveries impacting customer satisfaction.

Last mile deliveries were also impacted in the beginning of operations. Lack of batching algorithms meant there was sub-optimal utilisation of the delivery workforce. This led to increased costs of delivery, longer delivery times than committed and adverse impact on customer satisfaction.

 

Yango Deli Tech’s solution stack

At the core of Yango Deli Tech’s solution stack is a comprehensive warehouse management system. This system provides real-time visibility into inventory levels, allows for product movement tracking, and automates order processing. With this e-grocers can manage their inventory, minimise out-of-stock situations, and ensure timely order fulfilment.

Using sophisticated auto replenishment systems that incorporate machine learning models, the vendor can accurately predict demand and order the optimal amount of goods. Machine learning algorithms analyse historical sales data, customer behaviour patterns, external factors such as holidays, weather, as well as internal factors, like promotions and discounts to identify trends and patterns that impact demand.

The technology stack also includes solutions for couriers and pickers, optimising delivery routes and providing guidance to pickers within dark stores to maximise speed and efficiency in fulfilling orders.

Additionally, analytics of commercial metrics provides businesses with data and insights for data-driven decision making.

Analysing delivery data can help identify bottlenecks in the delivery process, optimise delivery routes, and improve overall operational performance. It also promotes transparency, enabling businesses to provide accurate updates to customers, resulting in increased trust and customer satisfaction.

Yango Deli Tech’s solutions are beneficial for large-scale, rapid grocery delivery businesses. Their solutions for fulfilment, delivery, commerce, client experience, analytics, empower traditional retailers and e-grocers to thrive in digital marketplaces.

“Auto-replenishment systems powered by machine learning generate accurate demand predictions, optimising inventory management with precision. Auto order and demand planning systems drive operational efficiency, resulting in improved availability, reduced write-offs, and overall performance excellence. With our solutions, e-grocers can achieve a streamlined grocery shopping experience,” explains Yango Deli Tech’s Avtukhov.

Benefits and improvements

Nana has implemented Yango Deli Tech’s Warehouse Management System and solution stack into its current operations around Saudi Arabia. Nana is experiencing benefits by reducing the average number of missing items per day and improved stock accuracy.

The purpose-built dark store picker application has helped to decrease the time needed for order preparation by more than 35%. This application uses smart instore routing and each stock keeping unit is assigned to a specific shelf.

Nana has implemented automated control of expiration dates and has eliminated the chance of receiving any expired goods. The introduction of auto order and demand planning systems has improved its ability to forecast demand, resulting in better availability of goods and reduced write-offs.

It has addressed the lack of visibility into its operations by the implementation of business dashboards with key metrics, courier shift planning, commercial profit, and loss, thereby receiving a comprehensive view of its operations.

Having the opportunity to track details has helped Nana in identifying bottlenecks and improving operational efficiency. Improved visibility has helped to make informed decisions, implement effective strategies, and drive better results for the business.

Nana has improved courier and delivery operations by using an AI demand prediction model to arrange delivery shifts with the right number of workforce available at the right times. It is using intelligent algorithms to create batch deliveries of 3-4 orders per hour per courier for the busier stores. Nana is attempting to improve this further on higher density routes.

The integration of batching and automatic shift planning has resulted in an increase of hourly orders delivered by couriers by more than a quarter.

Nana has also been able to address stock inaccuracies. Gaining better control over inventory levels has been a critical area for enhancing customer experience and laying the foundation for expansion. Nana also understands the importance of data-driven inventory management in optimising operations and ensuring positive customer experiences.

Solutions from Yango Deli Tech have helped Nana to optimise operations, enhance visibility, make data-driven decisions, leading to improved business performance and customer success. Further, this has helped to better understand business dynamics, identify areas for improvement, and implement effective growth strategies.

“In this fiercely competitive landscape, the winners will be those who can effectively leverage technology to streamline their operations, and enhance customer experience, says Yango Deli Tech’s Avtukhov.

“Partnering with Yango Deli Tech will help us address pain points, which will help rapid expansion and growth within the local market,” said Nana’s Alhelwah.

April 6, 2023

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