Retailers are subject to a lot of risk, and that risk comes in a number of forms, food safety being a massive one, but also risks around the store, like slip and trip hazards, and also ensuring that employees are completing their tasks, so there's not expired food out and things like that. Question is how do retailers, specially food and grocery manage these risks and activities efficiently.
INTRO
mpro5 is a digitalization partner specializing in process compliance solutions for enterprise businesses across various sectors, including retail, foodservice, healthcare, and rail. Their mission is to simplify complex compliance processes, enabling teams to focus on delivering quality and achieving their goals.
mpro5 provides tailored solutions for various industries:
Facilities Management: Manages maintenance requests and streamlines operations, including Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), and Proactive Preventive Maintenance (PPM).
Food Safety: Ensures compliance with food safety standards, including Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Quality Management Systems (QMS), and food traceability.
Retail Task Management: Enables teams to focus on delivering quality through task creation, automated follow-up, and integration with Point of Sale (POS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
MARKET OVERVIEW
The retail task management software market is part of the broader retail technology and digital transformation space. While specific figures can vary by region, the overall market is experiencing steady growth driven by increasing digitalization in retail operations. Brick-and-mortar stores are adopting these solutions to improve operational efficiency and compete in an omnichannel environment, contributing to a multi-billion-dollar market that is expected to grow at a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Key Market Drivers:
Operational Efficiency: Retailers seek to optimize in-store operations, streamline task assignments, and reduce manual errors.
Workforce Productivity: The need to manage a distributed workforce, automate task assignment, and ensure accountability drives adoption.
Digital Transformation: As retailers integrate various digital systems (e.g., POS, ERP, CRM), task management software is essential for ensuring smooth operations.
Omnichannel Strategy: With the convergence of online and offline channels, retailers require systems that help coordinate tasks across multiple touchpoints.
Cost Reduction: Automation of routine tasks and efficient resource allocation can lead to significant cost savings in operations and labor.
Market Trends:
Mobile-First Solutions: Increasing adoption of mobile applications allows employees to receive, manage, and complete tasks in real time from anywhere in the store.
Cloud-Based Platforms: Cloud solutions offer scalability, real-time updates, and integration with other systems, making them a popular choice.
Integration with IoT and Analytics: Enhanced real-time monitoring, data-driven insights, and predictive analytics are being integrated to better manage inventory, customer service, and operational tasks.
User Experience (UX) Improvements: Emphasis on intuitive interfaces and simplified workflows that require minimal training.
Real-Time Communication Tools: Features like live video support and instant messaging are increasingly incorporated to provide immediate guidance and support, especially in complex operational scenarios.
Key Challenges:
Legacy System Integration: Many retailers still rely on older systems, making seamless integration with new task management software challenging.
Data Security and Privacy: As with any digital platform, ensuring secure handling of sensitive retail and customer data is paramount.
User Adoption: Training employees and driving adoption among store staff who may be resistant to change is a continual challenge.
Customization vs. Standardization: Retailers vary widely in their operational needs, so solutions must balance between offering custom features and maintaining a standardized, scalable platform.
Connectivity Issues: Reliable network connectivity is essential, especially for cloud-based and mobile solutions deployed in large or remote store locations.
Impact of Digital Transformation: Digital transformation in retail is accelerating the adoption of task management software as part of a broader strategy to enhance the customer experience and operational efficiency. Retailers are increasingly leveraging:
Real-Time Analytics: To monitor task completion and adjust operations dynamically.
Mobile Accessibility: Allowing on-the-go management of tasks, reducing downtime, and improving responsiveness.
Live Video Support: Some modern platforms are integrating live video functionalities to provide on-site guidance, troubleshoot issues, and ensure compliance, thereby enhancing operational transparency and efficiency.
TRANSCRIPT
Let's start from a brief bio about your own background, and then we'll get into what MPRO5 does.
Yeah, of course. So a bit about myself. So obviously, I'm VP of Business Development, but I've been with MPRO5 for about, must be coming up to six years now.
You can tell by my accent, I'm originally from the UK, and our company is originally from the UK, but I'm actually based in our US office out here in North Carolina. And we've been helping companies basically prove process compliance for coming up to 26 years. So a long period of time.
And basically, our customers have been using us to digitize their tasks. And the major success that we've seen has been in retail. So a lot of grocery retailers back in the UK use MPRO5 to prove that compliance.
And now we're bringing that to the US market as well, which is really exciting.
Okay, great. So let's dig into that. And I can learn more about what that process is actually is.
So what is the problem that you are, the main problem that you're solving for retailers?
Yeah. So in retail, basically retailers are, they're open to a lot of risk. And that risk comes in a number of forms, food safety being a massive one, but also risks around the store, like slip and trip hazards, and also ensuring that employees are completing their tasks, so there's not expired food out and things like that.
What we do with M-Pro5 is we distribute tasks using our mobile app and allow the employees to be notified on what they have to do for the day. And in completing that, that ensures that the stores remain clean, they remain safe, they remain compliant, and then that limits the risk for the retailer. So for our largest customer, which is Tesco, all of those in-store operational tasks are being completed.
And that just ensures that they can see that they've been completed on time and that the stores are compliant, reducing risk for them massively.
Okay. So is your key customer segment food and grocery?
.
.
.
But my ChatGPT model that I use has learned from all the interactions today, and now gives me the advice that really benefits me based on me telling it, I want it to be a career coach sometimes, and I want it to be a life advisor other times, and I want it to be an expert chef other times. And all together, that now when I ask it for a great recipe for spaghetti, it will give me that. But also when I'm asking it, okay, right, I'm deep in a sales cycle right now with a large grocery retailer, how should I go about this issue?
And that's really the beauty of it is you can adjust your bicycle to be just for you.
Yeah, that's interesting. So you mentioned you're on the pro level of open ChatGPT, right? Is that your favorite tool?
It is because of its reliability. I don't have to download a model onto my device. I don't have to mess around with any of that.
And I think it's just for me, I've used it for so long, and I've got the model to be exactly where I want it to be, that it would be difficult for me to switch.
Okay, yeah, so the pro is the $200 a month one or the $20 a month?
They have a new one at $200, which is...
Okay, I'm not that much of a big spender.
Well, I mean, even the free version, it gives you some limited usage of the best model. And I think it's very interesting how things are moving on. It's like you said, how can an employee in a grocery retail store use their own phone, which they're always on TikTok or whatever, instead of doing that, actually find ways to make their work better, make the store better, help customers better.
Yeah. And a couple of our largest grocery customers, they do a scheme called bring your own device to use M-Pro5. Basically, everybody's allowed to send the occasional WhatsApp message, but also use M-Pro5 to do what they need to do.
I would also have right now, until we've implemented generative AI, I would also have ChatGPT on there, to be completely honest. And I'd say, in the last three days, I've noticed that we're having a big problem with not being able to get our temperatures where they need to be. Why would this be?
And then ChatGPT will likely come back and say, well, you need to check that your refrigerators are at the right temperature. And having that available to you just gives you that instant aha moment where you can be like, I know what, I can go and investigate this issue.
Yeah. Well, fascinating conversation. Thank you so much.
And I think there's definitely going to be some interesting changes, and I see you guys, your team pushing the envelope here a little bit. So all the best in your growth in the US.
Yeah. Thank you so much, Darius. Really appreciate the time.”
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