Page 3 - GTA South BU Newsletter No 3

During the pandemic we were also able to pilot a new customer service self- checkout pilot at SDM1287 in Toronto. This pilot project involved re-envisioning the front end of our stores to help more customers checkout faster. This was even more important during the pandemic as we often experienced bottlenecks in high- volume stores at the check-out, which impacted our ability to have more customers enter your stores due to COVID-19 capacity limits. The new front- end concept involved removing the cash registers and installing 6 SCO stations while leaving 2 cash registers in place and re-branding them as “Customer Service” stations. The customer service stations are where customers can get assistance for Presto card reloads, lotto purchases, returns, or cash transactions. During the first 3 weeks of the pilot we saw roughly an 88% increase in SCO adoption rates at this location, which is now consistently one of the highest SCO adoption locations in our BU. We are currently reviewing store layouts for additional stores to rollout this new front end concept in 2021. We also have a cash enablement SCO pilot at SDM851 where we have a cash machine attached to a SCO station allowing for customers to use cash at the SCO. The cash enablement machines will likely roll out to select stores where we see a very high cash penetration. During the pandemic we saw the usage of cash drop in our network as customers relied more on contactless payment options with credit/debit cards.
We would typically make announcements on new Associate appointments and upcoming retirements at our annual engagement meetings. This year we could not meet in person to do this, so we will be leveraging this BU newsletter to highlight the careers of two legends in our industry that will be retiring from the Associate/Owner role. After very successful careers with SDM, both Howard Trifler and Paul Goldman will be retiring soon.
With the current COVID-19 restrictions in place it is difficult for us to all get together and celebrate their long- standing careers with SDM. However, I know many of the Associates in our BU will be reaching out to congratulate Paul and Howard for all they have accomplished over the years. I personally want to thank both Paul and Howard for their incredible contributions to SDM and I wish them the best of health during their upcoming retirements. Please take a look inside the newsletter for some highlights and pictures from their careers at SDM
The holiday season is a time to reflect and for a time for us to connect with family and loved ones. This year it is going to be difficult for many of us to do this due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place. Similarly, staff holiday parties will look very different this year as you put the safety of your staff first during this global pandemic. I’m confident that we’ll hear and see creative ideas and solutions at stores on how Associates and their staff are keeping the holiday spirit alive as we get through this year together. I’m thankful for the great Associate/Owners in our BU and for the resilience you’ve shown this year. Your staff needs your leadership and your communities are relying on you for public health initiatives and essential goods. Please send me a note if there is anything that your field Ops resource team or I can do to support you this holiday season. Thank you, to you and your teams, for all you do and please stay healthy!