ch prevent higher-value activities and thinking.  “Zippedi” robots Leah Balter, Bunnings’ chief transformation officer, told Inside Retail that the brand has a number of projects underway, which are aimed at reducing the number of hours that staff spend on manual, repetitive and administratived tasks.  As a consequence, staff will have more time available to focus on customer-centric and other skilled services. She explained that since 2020, Bunnings has utilised new technologies to redeploy or remove 2.4 million hours of task time. One example of this is the Zippedi self-navigating robots that Bunnings is currently trialling. These robots use computer vision and artificial intelligence to conduct inventory, pricing and other retail tasks that might otherwise entail slow or manual processes.   In particular, the technology is able to scan store aisles outside of trading hours. It then uses in-built cameras to identify shelf-gaps, and assign suitable locations for products waiting to be shelved.  Although results from the trial are still being reviewed, it has the potential to automate part of the stock management process, thus saving a significant amount of staff time. “The trial is all about giving our team more time to focus on our customers and provide them the best experience,” Balter said. “We know that manual tasks like gap checks and hand-stock management can be really labour-intensive, so innovative solutions like Zippedi are really promising. It’s certainly something we were excited to trial and are monitoring closely.” Addressing pain points Beyond the Zippedi trial, Bunnings is exploring other technological innovations to enhance its efficiency.  It recently updated its picking app with an alert system, notifying staff that a new click-and-collect or click-and-deliver order has been placed by a customer. The update also informs staff when an online order has been transferred from another store.  And, while Bunnings launched its interactive store maps in 2021 – to help customers swiftly navigate through store aisles and find products – it has recently launched this platform on team member apps to facilitate more efficient stock management.  “It was designed to address one of the biggest pain points for customers – not being able to locate products – and it’s been really well-received,” Balter said. “We’ve since integrated this functionality into our back-of-house systems to help teams locate stock faster, replenish items more efficiently and stay on top of inventory.” She added that the brand is trialling electronic shelf labels across two stores in Victoria and NSW, and is rolling out software and hardware advancements to its self-checkout systems. “Self-checkouts make up about a third of our in-store transactions, and we’re constantly evaluating how we can make the experience better based on feedback we receive,” she said. “Something we’re really proud of is that the software was developed in-house by our technology and Innovation team, which means we have full control over its functionality and any ongoing improvements.  “This gives us a lot of freedom and flexibility for further innovation in this space.” Personalised content Bunnings’ investment in technology and innovation comes as its parent company, Wesfarmers  – which also owns Kmart, Target, Officeworks and Catch, among other businesses – prepares to report its full-year results. The group recorded a 14 per cent increase in interim profit in the first half of FY23, underpinned by Kmart sales increasing by 114 per cent.  However, managing director Rob Scott warned in May of a more challenging second half to the year, amid rising business and consumer costs. Meanwhile, Balter said that Bunnings is successfully leveraging customer data to inform its business decisions and simplify its operations.  She noted that Wesfarmers’ Flybuys and OnePass membership programs offer value for customers while also enabling Bunnings to understand their preferences and habits based on the data provided.  “We’re able to personalise the content and marketing we deliver,” she said.  “We can also share great value product recommendations and suggest [how-to] content online to assist customers to make the most of their purchases.”