Watched that Walter Robb interview - he's talking about investing in Technology Upgrades. Do you know what he's refering to? Any folks from Global IT here, maybe they can enlighten us what is being discussed or prepared as it relates to technology. I think we can improve quite bit in that area, I will probably not be around to see that happen though.
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The systems that WFM uses for purchasing in the stores and at the DC's are dinosaurs, and very inefficient. StoreOps, IRMA, DVO, Orderlink, EXE, PSFT etc. There's a different system for every different aspect of the business, so you are constantly jumping from system to system to get what you need done. It's very inefficient, and WFM needs to do a ton of systems development to make an impact. Laying off 3.5 people per business unit won't be making a dent in the amount of money that needs to be spent to upgrade WFM's purchasing and distribution systems.
Maybe they could finally resolve the DVO/IRMA cluster, make buyers jobs easier.
Workday related scheduling. No TL or PBS involvement, On line ordering. Etc.....I was told that company attempts to justify the WFM experience by focusing on customer service was an abject failure. Thus, less human interactions across the board = less humans needed to tell a story and increase basket size and all that blah blah koolaid. You get the picture.
Global IT couldn't keep people around because of the terrible environment when I was there. Average lifespan was about two years for anyone not in a leadership role. The pay is significantly lower than other places in Austin and as a developer, you can pretty much name your own price in this town. In the 4 years since I've left WFM, I've nearly tripled my salary, I have way better benefits, and am working on something that has a bigger impact to the world than selling overpriced/hyped crap.
Stores that don't have the pin pad updates by November will be responsible for any credit card fraud that takes place afterwards. My store is definitely not updated and they said not until 2016 (this is what I was told to tell customers). I think these tech updates are going to cost a lot and they were ill prepared to deal with them.
Our store has an ordering system for pizza where customers can order from their smartphones or via the web. It costs the store almost $4,000 a year but it only gets used maybe a couple times a month.
Fl region "streamlining" cashup soon.
We use a system that is copyrighted in 1991.
PRAGMA IS AWFUL
I'm pretty much lowest tier in global IT. The only technological advancements I am aware of is the new POS system. Usually tech is overlooked, and they don't wish to spend money on it
why should they? there jobs aren't going anywhere...
Gawd our pos IS a p.o.s.
Ask any cashup...
Some stores already have self checkouts. Others have touch screen ordering at juice/coffee bars.
Rise of the machines friends.
Soeaking of global...did the guy recorded on the automated messaged with the hypnotic accent get axed too? Ill miss his voice :(
Not from Global,
But things like auto/self schedule writing, semi auto inventory and some sort of predictive ordering. Hopefully better functioning registers make the cut.
Self check outs?
Nobody from Global here - they do not care