Food Fair Market

The Situation

With 18 retail store locations and a warehouse, Food Fair Market needed to align their time-tracking solution across all employees. At the time, the locations were using different time clocks, some older models and some newer. One store still used a punch clock that no longer met the needs of its employees or managers. The inconsistency in time collection methods made it difficult to streamline timecards and punch data, which created challenges in sending the information for payroll processing. Getting everyone in the organization on the same page was the objective, leading to the search for a better solution.

The Research Process

As the office manager at Food Fair Market, Holly handled a range of duties including licensing for all locations, accounting and payroll data preparation, training, and benefits.

In 2021, her extensive involvement in handling part of the payroll process led her to find a timekeeping solution that was accessible, user-friendly, and aligned with the processing system used by the CPA firm that handles their payroll. The company also needed an option that included administrative-level access and tech support. The previous solution they were using had a pay-per-use model for tech support, which drove costs up. Additionally, the software had to include physical time clocks and support a multi-location company with seamless functionality.

As Holly and her team spent several months comparing solutions. They received a list from by their CPA firm with compatible systems, and Swipeclock’s time and labor solution was included on that list.

For Holly and the Food Fair Market team, a user-friendly platform was an absolute must. The learning curve couldn’t be so substantial that supervisors struggled or refused to use it altogether.

After narrowing the selection down to two that met their needs, the team determined that Swipeclock was the best fit based on accessibility and pricing.

The Solution

After choosing Swipeclock’s time and labor solution, the team at Food Fair Market began the implementation process. This process went very smoothly, with virtual, video-based training with the implementation team. During this portion, product experts taught Holly and the supervisors how to use the clock hardware and software. Additionally, they handled the initial import of data, which saved a significant amount of time during the setup process.

In Holly’s words, “We are really happy and satisfied with the program. Once we got everyone trained, our team liked how easy it was to use.”

CHOOSING SWIPECLOCK FOR TIME AND LABOR

Holly also shared that payroll processing has become much more time efficient since switching to the time and labor solution. She is saving quite a bit of time each week, as she no longer has to go through and calculate all the time data, assess whether there are errors, or do math manually. Additionally, the previous process involved writing all the data on a sheet and faxing it to the payroll processor.

THE BENEFITS OF A STREAMLINED, INTEGRATED SOLUTION

How have things changed for Food Fair Market? Well, for starters, no one has to manually calculate hours. When employees use the hardware to clock in and out, all time data is logged on individual timesheets, stored virtually within the software. It’s quick and easy to pull the data and share it with the CPA firm that processes the company’s payroll, and the files are already in the format needed by the firm.

The time and resource savings translate to lower overhead costs, allowing Food Fair Market to offer competitively priced goods to customers. Plus, fewer timecard and payroll errors ensure happier employees, who can provide better customer service. Employee satisfaction is also directly tied to retention.

Another key advantage is access to support whenever it’s needed. Holly appreciates the ease of contacting Swipeclock tech support, where she has access to experts who answer questions, walk through the process of resolution, and replace hardware when needed. The responses are timely, and the experience has been more than satisfactory.

“If you want something that is so easy to use that anyone can use it, I recommend this time and labor solution,” Holly said. “It has streamlined our processes and the admin side has full access. Plus, we get great service–tech support can answer any question we throw at them.”

The system also includes more advanced scheduling, accrual, and hiring features that Food Fair Market may utilize in the future. Customers can use what they need and explore additional functionality when necessary, based on business growth and shifts. Swipeclock time and labor offerings grow and change with each individual client, delivering a customized solution.

If your company needs a better way to track time and labor, explore how a Swipeclock solution can simplify your processes like it did for Food Fair Market. Say goodbye to challenging manual tasks, paper timecards, and outdated methods for pulling and sharing data. Find out more about the solution that can transform how your organization manages its workforce.

If you would like to read all of the questions and answers from this case study, you can view them here.