Rebuilding the operating model of a national retail chain
A fast-growing chain of 60 grocery stores had outgrown the way it was run. Every decision went to the head office and shelves were often empty.
The challenge
Store managers had little authority, replenishment depended on phone calls, and three regional teams reported the same numbers in three different ways.
What we did
- Mapped the end-to-end flow from supplier to shelf in eight pilot stores
- Redesigned roles so store and regional managers owned clear decisions
- Introduced a weekly performance rhythm and one shared dashboard
- Coached the leadership team through a phased roll-out to all regions
The outcome
Within a year, on-shelf availability improved by 18 percentage points, the time to restock fast-moving items fell from four days to one and a half, and head-office approvals dropped by two thirds.
