At Zipline, we love hearing how our platform transforms retail operations in the real world. Recently, specialty Italian grocer Uncle Giuseppe’s joined us for a webinar with Progressive Grocer, sharing how they’ve used Zipline to streamline communication and improve store execution. 

We know you’re short on time, so we’ve served up only the best parts of the conversation. These highlights capture how Uncle Giuseppe’s has leveraged Zipline to simplify tasks, enhance store visits, and fuel their rapid growth.

From cluttered emails to clear communication

Vincent Oliveri, Deli Director, shared how Uncle Giuseppe’s team struggled with inefficient email communication before implementing Zipline. Emails often got lost, leading to a lack of accountability and incomplete tasks. With Zipline, Vinny was able to track task completion through photo submissions, ensuring everyone was on the same page and tasks were completed as instructed. This shift drastically improved store execution and communication, making it easier for his team to follow up on important initiatives.

“When I assign tasks (more often than not, photo tasks) you get, you know, absolute confirmation that the message that you put out there was understood and followed through.”

Watch the full clip below:

Making store visits count

Vinny explained that while in-person store visits are crucial, Zipline gave him a way to make those visits more efficient. By reviewing task completion and compliance through Zipline before arriving at a store, he could walk in already knowing what was done and where improvements were needed. This allowed him to stay focused on bigger issues, avoiding distractions and making each visit more productive.

“Zipline will prevent you from being bombarded with walking into a store and taking you personally off task of what you were going there for your visit.”

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Gearing Up for Rapid Expansion

Vinny spoke confidently about Uncle Giuseppe’s ability to grow quickly, thanks to the libraries and resources they’ve built using Zipline. When he first started, managing their wide range of products and recipes felt overwhelming. Now, with all materials neatly organized in Zipline, he feels ready to open new stores at a moment’s notice. With a solid foundation in place, he can train new teams quickly and maintain quality across locations.

“We’re at a point where I’m not worried about putting recipe books together or printing copies or, you know, finalizing items that may not have been touched. We could open a store tomorrow with the library I have.”

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Productive Store Visits that Focus on People, Not Paperwork

Mike Nelson, President, discussed how Zipline transformed his approach to store visits. Rather than spending his time verifying basic tasks, he uses Zipline to check off routine items before entering the store. This frees him to focus on meaningful interactions with staff and ensure the store’s overall experience is top-notch. By using Zipline to eliminate the busywork, Mike makes his store visits more impactful and productive.

“A lot of times, if I’m out in the field, you know, I’ll pop on my phone in the parking lot before I walk in a store and do a quick read or flip through their tasks or their store walk for the day.”

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Streamlining Store Walks During the Busiest Season

Mike explained how Zipline streamlines store walks (or audits) during the holiday season, allowing the team to operate more efficiently during their busiest time. By integrating store walks into Zipline, managers spend less time behind a computer and more time on the sales floor. Zipline’s user-friendly platform helped Uncle Giuseppe’s staff quickly adapt to the system, allowing for a seamless implementation that supported their holiday operations and beyond.

“Our catering business explodes during the holidays, and we really put all of the things that needed to be executed, to deliver a great catering experience for our customers, into Zipline.”

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How Uncle Giuseppe’s Ensured Zipline Adoption Across Stores

Mike detailed how they rolled out Zipline during the holidays to ensure immediate adoption across the organization. By fully committing to the new tool and phasing out old methods, Uncle Giuseppe’s was able to get their teams using Zipline quickly and effectively. Mike emphasized that Zipline’s flexibility allowed them to maintain their core processes while adopting a new system that supported their needs.

“You gotta give people a reason to go use the tool, and then you gotta give them a reason to go back to it, on a regular basis to kind of build the habit of using the tool.”

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Accountability and Collaboration with Egg Sandwiches

Vinny shared an example of how Zipline fostered collaboration between department heads and store managers. When rolling out a new egg sandwich recipe, Zipline required photo confirmations for each step of the process, ensuring compliance across departments. This created opportunities for store managers and department heads to work together, sparking important discussions about operational improvements and helping the team stay aligned.

“With the photo task, the store manager is ultimately responsible for the compliance rate of the items that are sent out. So it kind of forces the store manager to get in there with the department head, work together on achieving the tasks.”

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Uncle Giuseppe’s story highlights how even small operational changes can lead to big results. By using Zipline to streamline communications, boost store execution, and stay on top of tasks, they’ve set themselves up for continued growth and success. Whether you’re opening new locations or simply trying to get more out of each store visit, Zipline can help your team work smarter—not harder.

Want more where that came from? You can watch the entire webinar with Uncle Giuseppe’s and Progressive Grocer here, and dive deeper into their journey with Zipline. 

Curious about how Zipline could work for you? If you’re ready to improve your store execution and streamline operations, reach out to one of our experts today. We’d love to help you get started.