How technology can assist employees
Under the premise that front-line associates can be the intelligence hub of the organization, Wawa is uniquely positioning technology to assist associates in working and thinking differently. The goal is to ensure operations run more smoothly and customers’ needs are more quickly addressed.
To help enable more autonomous operations, EY professionals helped build a cloud-based technology infrastructure. By moving back-office applications into a modern technology stack, Wawa associates are better equipped to keep pace with productivity and Wawa can gain operational efficiencies - leading to accelerated time to market of new products and services.
“Our competitive differentiation is really predicated on the empowerment of local frontline store associates,” highlighted Collier. “We know our associates are the heart and soul of our organization and we want to use technology to complement their capabilities. Wawa is working on an augmented intelligence strategy to help serve customers better. Store associates are being equipped with the tools and dynamic capabilities needed to make real-time in-store decisions regarding customer needs.”
How new business ideas can provide a storefront for the future
Driving innovative solutions meant Wawa had to embrace new ideas. One big idea came in the form of a net new business — catering — infusing the brand with its consumers in ways never imagined before.
Catering offers a one-stop shop for consumers who are looking for large food orders for their next business meeting, family gathering or even to fuel their wedding guests dancing the night away. Wawa’s catering has an expanded menu including some fan favorites like the Sizzli® Breakfast Sandwich Box featuring six hot and fresh bagel and croissant hand-held breakfast meals; and a trendy candy box offering guests an assortment of candies. Not only did this new offering increase volume ordering for Wawa, but it opened its doors to new customers and further strengthened its unified commerce strategy.
“CIOs today need to react quickly to changing environments by utilizing data and technology differently,” said Rakesh Kumar, EY Americas Strategy and Transformation Leader. “We helped develop the back-end technology and complex services needed to support Wawa’s new interactive website and mobile application catering platform.”