Talysis has launched AI tool Vox, which can provide store owners with advice based on sales data from more than 10,000 other independent convenience stores.
The system allows retailers, wholesalers and suppliers to write or speak requests to Vox just like Apple’s Siri or Google’s Alexa. Vox then uses the shop’s own data plus Talysis’ data from other shops to provide evidence-based answers on topics such as product ranging, pricing, promotions and sales trends.
Talysis managing director Ed Roberts described VOX as ‘a ground-breaking moment’ for the sector, including for ‘single-site independent retailers’ as it will allow them to make ‘radical improvements’ in their operations and profitability.
Describing what Vox can do for the average independent store, he said: “We have EPOS data from several thousand independent stores, pricing and promotion data from all the multiples and a majority of the wholesalers and category management advice. We build this together because many independents have no barometer, they have no idea if their store is good, bad or indifferent compared to what else is out there in the channel.”
He told RN: “Retailers often know what they want to find out about their store, but not how to get there…Vox means they won’t need to be data analysts to work with data anymore, they just need to be curious.”
Examples of uses for stores included checking their sales, pricing and range against nearby stores to discover how they compare on each line or category, find strong selling products they don’t stock yet, check whether a line they see in cash & carry is selling well locally, identify underperforming products on their shelves and communicate with team members in different languages through in-built translation tools.
Asked about the affordability of the new tool for independent shop owners, Roberts told Better Retailing it was working on a ‘pay as you go’ model and a ‘consortium’ model – where a trade body would provide the service for its members. He revealed the service will be ready for stores around February 2025, with work underway to research the level of demand from shop owners and ‘what they’re prepared to pay.’
The managing director also said symbol groups may provide it for shop owners, adding Vox could also act as the ‘conduit’ between the store owners and symbol group, making promotions, guidance, support services and ordering more easily accessible for the retailer.
He added: “We work with a lot of those groups anyway to give traditional dashboard driven outputs, this is the logical next step.”
Some shop owners believe their decades of experience means they already have an intuitive knowledge of their store’s performance without analysing date. Asked about this approach, Roberts responded: “Retailers often think they know that information, but this data allows you to see the different options. You don’t know what you don’t know. Other stores near you could be selling something you’re not but you wouldn’t know.
“We’ve been doing this for 17 years working with some of the biggest wholesale groups in the UK and Ireland, you’d think they’d know their business inside out but when you present the data there’s raised eyebrows and surprises about what’s good and bad about their own performance. People have opinions and make assumptions, you may think something’s selling or not selling but this is fact based.”
Vox is also being pitched at suppliers and wholesalers with Roberts stating it would complement field sales teams by acting as their ‘little black book’ – a complete record of each store’s performance, rewards and work with the brand.
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