Hong Kong retailer PARKnSHOP sees multiple benefits from implementing Verified by GS1

Replacing one-at-a-time manual GS1 GTIN checks with batch-sized automation through Verified by GS1 allowed PARKnSHOP to reduce the time needed to list products.

Challenge

As part of their commitment to provide accurate product listings, PARKnSHOP’s supply chain team previously checked each new product’s GS1 Global Trade Item Number® (GTIN®) manually.

Solution

PARKnSHOP now queries batches of GS1 GTINs in Verified by GS1 and instantly gets feedback for all items items.

Benefits

PARKnSHOP’s product listing process is efficient and streamlined. What used to take days, now only takes a few hours.

PARKnSHOP is Hong Kong’s leading supermarket chain and one of the most trusted brands in Hong Kong. Part of the A.S. Watson Group, PARKnSHOP has about 260 physical outlets in Hong Kong and Macau as well as a thriving e-commerce market.

“We provide a wide range of products for our customers to purchase both online and in our stores,” explains Garrick Chan, PARKnSHOP Supply Chain Director, “and we frequently update and refresh our product range, in order to ensure that our customers stay excited.”

PARKnSHOP believes in the GS1 GTIN and understands well the efficiencies of the GS1 system of standards. The company has long-established control points to make sure every product’s GS1 GTIN is validated before it is listed.

Accurate GTINs help us ensure that our supply chain flow is error-free, whether in catalogue planning, planogram design, ordering, supplier delivery to our warehouse and to retail shops—and even for our customers.

Garrick Chan, PARKnSHOP Supply Chain Director

Verified by GS1 for PARKnSHOP

Manual processes

For years, PARKnSHOP staff manually checked every GS1 GTIN one by one: an obviously time-consuming and inefficient method that limits the quantity of GS1 GTINs that can be processed on any given day.

So, in February 2021, when GS1 Hong Kong introduced Verified by GS1 to PARKnSHOP, the retailer was immediately interested: “We were very keen to grasp this opportunity to improve our business,” says Garrick Chan.

Being an early adopter of Verified by GS1 was also completely in line with the A.S. Watson Group’s commitment to support The Consumer Goods Forum, as they work to empower the digital transformation with accurate and better product information.

Benefits quickly visible

PARKnSHOP’s GS1 GTIN validation process for a batch of new items now only takes hours instead of days. “Within a few months of implementing Verified by GS1,” says Garrick Chan, “our product listing processes were streamlined. We can query a big batch of barcodes in the system and instantly get back the feedback for all items—all in one go, without limitation on the number of GS1 GTINs.”

Thanks to Verified by GS1, PARKnSHOP can reinvest their resources into other tasks and projects that bring more value to their business. They are also avoiding the bottlenecks they used to face whenever they want to add a large set of new items to their product listings.

Less than a year after going live with Verified by GS1, Garrick Chan and his team are fully convinced by its benefits and value: “Having accurate product information flowing along our supply chain has helped us achieve efficiency.”

Information they can trust

Another benefit the retailer has found in using Verified by GS1: access to a single source of trusted information. PARKnSHOP is increasingly selling products that come from all over the world. Because Verified by GS1 is linked to the GS1 Registry Platform, the company can check the GS1 GTINs of all of their products, no matter where they were sourced.

Better online experiences

Garrick Chan notes that using Verified by GS1 also enhances the experience of their online shoppers.

Since nowadays many customers shop online—where they cannot physically see or touch a product—accurate and complete product information has become an extremely important part of the purchasing decision.

With Verified by GS1 connecting them directly to information provided by brand owners themselves, PARKnSHOP can get trusted and up-to-date product descriptions, images and more into their listings of product master data and then onto the web pages of their online shop.

“It’s not only about efficiency and speed,” Garrick Chan says, “it’s also about accuracy and alleviating the legal risk of incorrect product information.”

“At PARKnSHOP, we believe in GS1 global standards. Only through a collaborative effort from brand owners, retailers and e-tailers can we build a reliable and trusted commerce ecosystem around the world.”

Garrick Chan, PARKnSHOP Supply Chain Director

Benefits of Verified by GS1

For Brands

✔ Simplified listing process and faster time to market

✔ Data quality visibility and insights

For Retailers

✔ Reduced time and costs to gather and verify data

✔ Optimised business processes

For Consumers

✔ More reliable product information

✔ Increased satisfaction and fewer returns

Verified by GS1 creates a triple win for brands, retailers and consumers: simplifying the data sharing process for brands, accelerating the listing process for retailers, and ultimately, providing reliable product information and a richer experience for consumers.

Norman Yum, PARKnSHOP Managing Director

About PARKnSHOP
PARKnSHOP believes in better living through better eating. We have about 260 stores in Hong Kong and Macau, with different store formats to meet the needs of different customer segments. With an aim to provide seamless O+O (Offline plus Online) experiences, PARKnSHOP’s eShop and mobile application offer added convenience to tech-savvy customers to shop from anywhere, anytime. Over 230 stores provide the “Click & Collect” service for customers to pick up in store after shopping online. PARKnSHOP is a member of the A.S. Watson Group, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited. www.parknshop.com

About GS1
GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit organisation that develops and maintains the most widely used global standards for efficient business communication. We are best known for the barcode, named by the BBC as one of “the 50 things that made the world economy.” GS1 standards improve the efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels in 25 sectors. Our scale and reach—local Member Organisations in 116 countries, 2 million user companies and 6 billion transactions every day—help ensure that GS1 standards create a common language that supports systems and processes across the globe.
www.gs1.org

About Verified by GS1
Verified by GS1 is a repository of product data that helps organisations answer the question: “Is this the product that I think it is?” Brand owners use Verified by GS1 to associate seven core attributes with each of their products: the product’s GS1 GTIN, brand name, description, a URL of a product image, its GS1 Global Product Category (GPC) code, the net content and unit of measure and the country of sale. With the help of Verified by GS1, brand owners,retailers and marketplaces can build rich consumer experiences that deliver trusted, brand-sourced product data, which drives confidence, satisfaction, loyalty—and ultimately, increased efficiency and growth for their businesses. www.gs1.org/verified-by-gs1