07/21/2020

Bashas’ Deploys NCR Point-of-Sale Technology

Bashas' will use the NCR POS platform for self-checkout and other tasks.

Bashas’ Family of Stores has gone live with NCR Emerald, the next-generation, cloud-enabled point-of-sale (POS) platform offered on a subscription basis for grocers.

Emerald “is a key component of NCR’s Next-Generation Retail Store Architecture, providing retailers the ability to simplify store operations and introduce future innovations in a fraction of the time and cost,” NCR said.

The deployment, announced last year, took six months as planned, though not without some hiccups.

“When we planned the project in late October, we built in a pause in December, as not to disrupt our holiday business, but no one could anticipate the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic brought.” said Edward Basha III, CEO of Bashas’. “Yet, we were able to meet this key milestone through the efficient collaboration with NCR. It was a great relief that we could still launch this digital transformation for our stores, employees and our customers during this challenging time.”

Bashas’ will eventually deploy the complete Emerald solution, all software and payments processing for full and self-service checkouts, plus technology for customer loyalty, promotions, merchandising and more.

The Emerald deployment comes amid another technology push by Bashas’ Family of Stores.

Earlier this summer, the food retailer said that it would use artificial intelligence technology from Hypersonix to help run its business. The chain will use the Hypersonix AI-based analytics platform — offered on a subscription basis — to support the company’s real-time merchandising, marketing and enterprise analytics needs, the technology vendor said. The deal comes as the food retail industry faces “unprecedented change and fluctuating demand patterns due to COVID-19,” making the use of leading-edge analytics even more important.

Bashas’ Family of Stores is a family-owned company based in Chandler, Arizona. Its brands include Food City, AJ's Fine Foods, Eddie's Country Store, and both Bashas' and Bashas' Diné supermarkets. Bashas’ Market Inc. is No. 73 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's list of the top food retailers in North America.