Digitizing retail operations for a leading polish retailer using Crispal

Customer

Our client is one of the leading retailers in Poland with over 2500 physical locations across the country. They sought a solution that could streamline their retail operations, ensure swift task verification, and promote operational excellence across their vast retail network.

Challenge

Retail is a multifaceted industry, with complexities spanning across inventory management, customer service, sales strategies, and regulatory compliance. Each aspect requires precision, adherence to quality standards, and synchronization between different roles for seamless operation. As such, efficient management at all levels, from store workers executing everyday tasks to regional managers overseeing multiple locations, and up to the central office defining the overarching strategy, is paramount.

Given their expansive presence across Poland, the client encountered multiple operational challenges. The central office dictated sales strategy at every location, and each store received tasks reflecting this strategy. These tasks included updating posters, stocking up on specific products, and adhering to formal requirements. The organizational structure, designed to provide relevant information only to those who need it, had to be respected.

The central office needed a tool to assign tasks across the organization in line with the hierarchical structure, and track progress in real-time. Occasionally, they needed to send a task with high priority to multiple locations simultaneously. Moreover, regional managers and the central office needed a way to quickly inspect task execution, necessitating the capability to attach photos or documents as a task description or response.

Additionally, store workers required precise instructions on their tasks without any distractions. They needed a simple list of tasks due for the day, with each task having a clear and concise description. The concept of distraction here includes receiving tasks not meant for the individual or tasks due in the distant future - effectively rendering the notification irrelevant at the time of receipt. Traditional task management solutions often overlook this, resulting in irrelevant user interface elements which can distract from immediate tasks. Therefore, the app's main challenge was to aid these various users without becoming a nuisance or a distraction.

Solution

To address these challenges, we delivered our comprehensive task management application, a robust tool offering a mobile app for store workers, regional managers, and the central office, as well as a web app.

1. Mobile App: The mobile app, available for store workers, regional managers, and the central office, provides clear task descriptions and notifications, ensuring all users are well aware of their responsibilities. Tasks due for the selected day are listed, with the most important task placed at the top. The app sends push notifications as reminders. It also allows users to attach photos or documents to task descriptions and responses, offering comprehensive support for task execution and verification.
2. Web App: The web app offers a broad overview of all assigned tasks, their status, and detailed reports about task fulfillment. It assists the central office in assigning tasks across the organization, tracking progress in real-time, and sending high priority tasks to multiple locations. The web app also enables the creation and distribution of tasks respecting the organizational structure, task assignment to the whole organization, to a specific group, or to a single user, and definition of acceptance criteria for each task. Furthermore, it allows to define and modify the organizational structure, reflecting the company hierarchy, and to define workflows within the structure.

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Benefits

Crispal proved to be a perfect solution for the client. Here are the benefits they experienced:

• Efficient Task Management: The client was able to efficiently assign, track, and verify tasks across all of their locations, respecting the hierarchical structure of the organization. The capability to send high priority tasks to multiple locations and track progress in real-time significantly improved their operational consistency.
• Improved Worker Productivity and Task Completion: The mobile app helped all users focus on their tasks without distractions, improving worker productivity and quality of task execution. Previously, it took an average of 2 days to complete a task, while with our app, tasks are completed in a matter of hours.

• Streamlined Reporting: The central office experienced a significant improvement in their reporting processes. They are now able to generate detailed reports about task fulfillment, worker productivity, and overall operational efficiency with a single click of a button, saving time and resources previously spent on manually preparing excel sheets.‍
• Full Mobility: The mobile app has provided full mobility for our clients, allowing them to concentrate on pressing matters without being tied to a location.‍
• Operational Excellence: Crispal has empowered regional managers with real-time insights and a data-driven approach to manage store operations. This has led to a marked improvement in the overall performance of individual locations and, subsequently, the entire retail chain.

Crispal transformed the retail operations of one of Poland's largest retailers, making it a case study worth emulating. Through intelligent digitization, we were able to redefine retail operations for the client, ushering in a new era of efficiency and productivity.