Overview
Morrisons, a household name in the UK’s retail sector and one of the top four supermarket chains, faced pressing challenges in adapting its legacy systems to meet the evolving demands of a competitive retail landscape. As a trusted technology partner, Mastek delivered an end-to-end modernization strategy that not only transformed Morrisons’ reporting capabilities but also optimized its supply chain and improved overall business performance.
The Challenge
Morrisons’ legacy systems, particularly its QlikView-based platform, were ill-equipped to support the demands of its extensive operations, which span over 500 locations. Key challenges included:
Outdated Reporting Systems:
- The legacy QlikView platform struggled to process the vast amounts of data required for efficient reporting and decision-making.
- Manual, paper-based reports led to data latency, inaccuracies, and slow response times.
Complex Retail Supply Chain:
- Managing the intricate interplay between stores, warehouses, and suppliers was cumbersome, often leading to inefficiencies.
Limited Visibility into Inventory:
- A lack of real-time visibility into product stock across stores, warehouses, and transit created bottlenecks in replenishment and forecasting.
High Stock Holding Costs:
- Inefficient forecasting and stock management inflated stock holding costs, negatively impacting overall profitability.
Fragmented Reporting:
- With over 100+ scattered and outdated reports, consolidating and analyzing business-critical metrics became a significant challenge for decision-makers.
The Solution
To address these challenges, Mastek implemented a comprehensive modernization strategy built around advanced reporting tools, real-time insights, and streamlined workflows.
Store Reporting Dashboard:
- Designed and implemented interactive dashboards using QlikView, integrating data from multiple sources, including Oracle Exadata, SQL Server, and Salesforce.
- Consolidated multiple legacy reports into a single dashboard, offering store and regional managers access to key metrics such as:
- Weekly takings
- Payroll and controllable expenses
- Shrink and waste metrics
- Customer engagement metrics
- Enabled drill-down functionality, providing actionable insights for informed decision-making.
Stock Visibility Dashboard:
- Delivered a real-time stock tracking solution that provided visibility into inventory at all levels-store shelves, warehouses, and supplier locations.
- Integrated key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor:
- Dead stock by cost, units, and variance.
- Top-performing and low-performing products.
- Waste-to-sales ratios to minimize inefficiencies.
Technology Evaluation and Upgrades:
- Adopted an agile delivery model with seamless onshore-offshore collaboration to meet project timelines and deliver high-quality results.
- Evaluated and optimized the use of QlikView and Logi Analytics tools to identify the best-fit solutions for Morrisons’ reporting needs.
Proactive Decision-Making via Tablet-Based Solutions:
- Delivered an innovative, tablet-based decision-making platform for store managers, providing real-time insights at their fingertips.
- Empowered managers to address operational challenges immediately, boosting overall efficiency and responsiveness.
The Outcome
Operational Efficiency
- Reduced stock cover days from 21 to 9, resulting in approximately £400M savings in stock holding costs.
- Improved supply chain visibility, ensuring timely replenishment and reduced wastage.
Cost Savings
- Achieved significant cost reductions, including £10,000 savings in the first week and an annual reduction of £2.3M.
- Reduced printing by 12,000+ sheets per store annually, supporting sustainability and cost-efficiency efforts.
Enhanced Reporting
- Replaced over 100 legacy reports with unified, easy-to-use dashboards, streamlining access to critical business metrics.
- Deployed 30+ customer insight dashboards across 500+ stores, enabling faster and more accurate decision-making.
High Stock Holding Costs:
- Inefficient forecasting and stock management inflated stock holding costs, negatively impacting overall profitability.
Sales Uplift
- Improved stock availability and management processes boosted sales revenue.
- Enabled real-time comparisons of sales performance across stores, fostering healthy competition and better planning.
About Morrisons
Founded over a century ago, Morrisons is one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, known for its dedication to innovation, customer satisfaction, and operational excellence. By partnering with Mastek, Morrisons successfully modernized its legacy systems, gaining the agility needed to thrive in a competitive marketplace.
DecompleXify Your Retail Operations with Mastek
At Mastek, we specialize in transforming complex business challenges into streamlined, data-driven solutions. Whether it’s modernizing reporting systems, enhancing supply chain visibility, or improving operational efficiency, we deliver tailored solutions that empower businesses to stay ahead.