AO Chooses RELEX Solutions to Support Its Continued Growth

AO chooses RELEX Solutions to support its continued growth with an advanced supply chain solution.

AO, the UK’s largest online retailer of household appliances, has enlisted RELEX Solutions, Europe’s fastest growing supply chain solution provider, to help with its forecasting, replenishment, promotions and product life cycle management decisions within its complex supply chain as it expands into new categories and countries.

AO currently has a product range of approximately 4,000 items ranging across a variety of categories, all with diverse behaviours and replenishment models. AO also operates a fluctuating stock base with frequent phasing out or introduction of new products, as well as promotions, which all have to be managed in the most efficient way possible. RELEX provides AO with the technology needed to develop its current stock models and give complete visibility of the supply chain. It also has the flexibility to handle constant change and challenging operations such as new product introductions or promotions.

We like to push the boundaries at AO and it soon became apparent that RELEX does too. Its in-memory computing technology, offers the agility and fast decision making needed to respond to challenges.

In addition to building its own solutions in-house, AO believes RELEX’s solution complements its existing capabilities. Vicky Kay, Director of Supply Chain, AO comments, “We like to push the boundaries at AO and it soon became apparent that RELEX does too. Its in-memory computing technology, offers the agility and fast decision making needed to respond to challenges. We worked closely with their team and with a growing business and a constantly evolving inventory, we need flexibility and that is exactly what their technology offers us.

RELEX SaaS model eliminated the need for us to invest upfront in hardware and license fees and its transparent pricing structure meant reduced risk with no additional fees further along the implementation journey.

RELEX operates on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis helping customers achieve full return on investment in months instead of years. “RELEX SaaS model eliminated the need for us to invest upfront in hardware and license fees and its transparent pricing structure meant reduced risk with no additional fees further along the implementation journey”, comments Kay. “We also don’t lose out by not having huge amounts of master data in new territories, RELEX simply works with what data you have.”

Mikko Kärkkäinen, Group CEO, RELEX Solutions comments, “We wanted to make sure that AO retain their autonomy, by equipping them with the necessary tools to manage their own supply chain. We understand AO’s strategic objectives and vision and are very much looking forward to continuing to work in collaboration with them.”