Retail · Supply chain

Retail &
Supply Chain.

Operational excellence in retail, with a focus on the store.

Focus: Store routines and staffing
Reach: From supplier to shelf
Way of working: Reporting to the executive level, delivery with your teams

01 · Services

Four levers in retail

Most of the work in retail happens in the store, and that is usually where we start. We bring in network, warehouse and head office where they create work for the store.

Store operations

The store is where problems further up the chain show: goods arrive at the wrong time, in the wrong order or not at all. We first measure what a store actually spends its hours on, in a few typical locations. That leads to staffing by footfall, fixed routines for replenishment and backstore, and a short daily huddle that the store manager keeps running without us.

Scope

Time study per task in pilot stores
Staffing by footfall
Replenishment, backstore and stocktake
On-shelf availability
Fresh and markdowns
Checkout and self-checkout
Daily huddle with the store manager

Network and inventory

We align forecasting, ordering and replenishment with actual sales. How much stock sits at each tier is set together with buying, because that is usually where range width is decided as well.

Scope

Network of warehouses, hubs and stores
Ordering and automatic replenishment
Stock per tier
Range complexity
Supplier delivery reliability

Logistics to the shelf

What the warehouse saves often comes back as extra work in the store. We therefore look at picking and delivery together and, where it pays, switch to deliveries in shelf sequence.

Scope

Flow from goods-in to dispatch
Picking performance in shift operations
Deliveries in shelf sequence
Routes and time windows
Business case for automation

Omnichannel and head office

Click & collect and returns mostly end up in the store. We include them in staffing and bundle the tasks head office sends to the floor.

Scope

Click & collect and returns in store
Head-office tasks sent to the floor
Online fulfilment

Pricing, category management and store design are outside our scope.

02 · From practice

Store efficiency in grocery retail

For a large grocery retailer we analyzed supermarkets in food and beverages, from the sales floor to the back door, and developed measures from the findings. We name the client in conversation.

Front store

Sales floor

Analysis of the work on the sales floor in food and beverages.

Back door

Receiving and backroom

Analysis of the work at the back of the store, from delivery to the backroom.

Measures

Optimization

Measures for both areas, developed from the analysis.

Getting started

OpEx Assessment for retail

Eight weeks in selected stores and the warehouse that supplies them. The outcome is an EBIT hypothesis per lever and the order in which to realise it.

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03 · Insights

From practice.

Articles on total cost, supply chains and administration.

MethodNovember 2026

Process-oriented TCO

Most TCO models are built from invoices. A process-oriented TCO measures each step of the work, values it at local rates and assigns it to the budget where it is booked. The method, applied to packaging in retail, automation in a distribution center and a robot cell in assembly.

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