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By Suresh Menon | Oct. 9, 2025

Intelligent Task Management and Demand Insights Transform Retail Operations

In retail, every second counts. Shoppers expect fast, seamless experiences, whether browsing in-store or picking up an online order. At the same time, retailers must juggle the complexities of managing inventory, communicating with teams, and responding to ever-changing customer needs. It’s not easy. But with the right tools, it’s possible to make things easier for everyone.

Recent insights from Nucleus Research highlight how our Workcloud Task Management and Demand Intelligence Suite deliver measurable value to retailers worldwide.

Task Management Keeps Everyone on the Same Page

Imagine trying to manage hundreds of stores with nothing but emails and paper notes to keep things running. That was the reality for Rack Room Shoes, a retailer with more than 520 locations. Tasks like setting up promotions or fulfilling online orders were unnecessarily challenging because communication wasn’t streamlined. But when the company adopted Zebra Workcloud Task Management solution, everything changed.

Now, store associates use mobile devices to access tasks, prioritize what needs to be done, and stay on the sales floor helping customers. The result? A whopping 95% task completion rate, even with task volumes increasing fourfold. By putting the right tools in the hands of their employees, Rack Room Shoes has kept operations running smoothly and improved the shopping experience for their customers.

United Pacific (Rocket Convenience Stores), a chain of gas stations and convenience stores, faced similar challenges. They needed a better way to communicate between their stores and corporate teams, especially as customer expectations continued to rise. Zebra Workcloud Task Management helped bridge that gap.

With mobile access to task histories and advanced analytics, United Pacific (Rocket Convenience Stores) improved communication between stores and corporate teams, ensuring clarity and alignment. The solution's automation features enable tasks to be curated and distributed seamlessly, alleviating the burden on store managers and allowing employees to focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences.

These successes underscore the value of uniting corporate and frontline teams through task automation. By enabling real-time task visibility and prioritization, Zebra Workcloud Task Management ensures that retail operations remain agile and responsive to dynamic market needs.

“Zebra Workcloud Demand Intelligence Suite helps retailers cut inventory costs by 5% and boost forecasting accuracy by 14%,” said Nucleus Research Senior Analyst Charles Brennan. “With AI-driven demand sensing and real-time insights, Zebra empowers businesses to optimize inventory, minimize waste, and quickly respond to changing market conditions. One global retailer even saw a 30% improvement in forecasting accuracy.”

Demand Intelligence Elevates Inventory Precision

If you’ve ever walked into a store and found empty shelves where your favorite products should be, you know how frustrating that can be. Retailers feel that frustration too. Keeping shelves stocked without overloading warehouses is a delicate balancing act, and traditional supply chain tools don’t always rise to the challenge. That’s why we developed our Workcloud Demand Intelligence Suite.

While task management focuses on operational alignment, our Demand Intelligence Suite transforms inventory management by integrating AI-driven demand sensing and real-time data analysis.

For example, a global beauty and cosmetics retailer improved forecasting accuracy by 30% overall and stabilized inventory levels across international markets. By tailoring forecasting models to distinct product categories and regions, the retailer achieved real-time demand planning, enabling it to manage a highly volatile SKU portfolio effectively. Similarly, a food and beverage retailer reduced waste and minimized product spoilage by leveraging Zebra’s demand intelligence to optimize replenishment and inventory placement.

“Zebra Workcloud Demand Intelligence Suite helps retailers cut inventory costs by 5% and boost forecasting accuracy by 14%,” said Nucleus Research Senior Analyst Charles Brennan. “With AI-driven demand sensing and real-time insights, Zebra empowers businesses to optimize inventory, minimize waste, and quickly respond to changing market conditions. One global retailer even saw a 30% improvement in forecasting accuracy.”

We’re Here to Help

We don’t just sell solutions. We partner with businesses to solve their toughest challenges. Whether it’s helping retailers like Rack Room Shoes and United Pacific (Rocket Convenience Stores) streamline their operations or enabling smarter inventory planning with tools like Demand Intelligence, we’re dedicated to making a difference.

Our vision is simple: connect frontline teams, provide visibility into every aspect of a business, and drive intelligent operations to make work easier. By doing this, we’re helping retailers keep up with today’s demands and get ahead of those coming down the pike.

When businesses succeed, everyone benefits; the employees working hard every day, the customers they serve, and the communities they’re a part of. That’s what drives us. And that’s why we’ll keep innovating, so work gets better every day for everyone.

Topics
Blog, Field Operations, Retail, Warehouse and Distribution, Asset Tracking, Automation, Better Ways of Working, Technology Tools, Digitizing Workflows, Wearables,
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