John Ricci Troublemaker at Danavation
I often geek out over my guests’ brilliant solutions. Danavation Technologies Corp.™ is one of those. They stepped into the world of retail on-shelf pricing signage and turned it on its head.
As CEO John Ricci explained, “Up until now it’s been status quo with pricing strategies on the shelf. It’s a world of paper tags, hand-written signs, as it was 40 years ago.” It had never changed. “When you want to change SKUs, it involves paper, ink, toner, labor, and time…lots of time.”
Danavation is helping retailers embrace high tech, using an approach they’re accustomed to, high-touch.
A simple, clear goal
This from their website, “When our founder and CEO John Ricci started Danavation, he had one goal in mind: to bring retailers to the digital age. With over 30 years of experience in the retail industry, he’d seen it all except for one thing—a solution that meets and exceeds the needs of modern businesses and tech-savvy consumers.
And from that, Digital Smart Labels™ were born.”
Grocery retail was the obvious first vertical Danavation went after. Grocers typically change prices once or twice a week. Danavation has since moved into many different sectors:
- Healthcare – automated patient records, and information for after-care facilities
- Warehouses and Distribution – workflows
- Military – automating workflows for maintenance schedules
- Animal shelters and adoption centers – automating pet records
- Car dealerships – updating information on certain vehicles
The technology requires no wiring – it uses Bluetooth. They design their own software, including custom solutions for their clients.
Defining your culture
“What defines you as a company is not what you brag about. It’s what happens when something goes wrong. Are you able to fix it? Are you willing to fix it? And are you there to support your customer?” – John Ricci
The outlook post-COVID-19
John is highly optimistic that retail will come back quickly. COVID-19 taught consumers how much they miss the experience of shopping in person – the instant gratification. Danavation will help retailers save time managing on-shelf messaging and inventory control. Their employees will be able to engage in more important tasks.
Danavation’s message to retailers – “When retail does come back, you want to be ready. You want to be efficient, clean, and aesthetically pleasing. When the customers do come back, they’ll experience a re-fresh of your stores. I think it’s an opportunity for retailers to gain back market share. But it’s up to retailers to give the customers a reason to come back into their stores.”
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