Romania’s largest bookstore chain upgrades supply chain processes to support rapid expansion within the book retail industry
Carturesti, a leading Romanian bookstore chain has selected RELEX Solutions, a provider of unified supply chain and retail planning solutions, to deliver an integrated supply chain solution with forecasting and replenishment, alongside space and assortment solutions, to support their market expansion goals. RELEX partner, re:innovation will support the project with implementation and management services, leveraging their deep understanding of the Romanian retail landscape and processes.
With a focus on promoting literature, art, and creativity, Carturesti offers a diverse selection of 150,000 SKUs across books, stationery, gifts and cultural products. As a significantly growing business, Carturesti has a network of 60 stores featuring unique architectural designs, each cultivating a vibrant cultural space for customers.
Carturesti manages the distribution of their products to their stores from their distribution center and relies on manual processes for various tasks, including ordering and planogramming, which results in low visibility into stock levels. With a reliance on literary wholesalers and publishers providing a catalog of products within specific time periods, there was a need to optimize and transform their supply chain to avoid unpredictability.
With RELEX, Carturesti aims to refine their processes with an accurate and transparent unified system across forecasting and replenishment, and space and assortment that allows them to act proactively and make data-driven decisions. The forecasting and replenishment solution will automate the inventory management and store replenishment systems, improving on-shelf availability and supporting potential surges in demand. Additionally, utilizing the space and assortment solution will provide Carturesti with a unified approach to store planning, enabling the creation of store-specific planograms. This ensures books and other products have the right space allocation to support the local flavor and unique store designs.
“Partnering with RELEX allows us to tackle our unique industry challenges and enhance our planning processes with their advanced solutions. With the recent opening of new and exciting Carturesti bookstores, the implemented processes will ensure we continue to operate efficiently and meet our customers’ needs,” said Adrian Harhoi, Head Buyer, Carturesti
With the unified solution, retailers can achieve seamless operations that maximize store efficiency, increase store compliance, and product availability. The replenishment functionality, in addition to considering demand forecasts and other factors, automatically considers planograms and available shelf space. This reduces the reliance on backroom storage while maintaining attractive displays. Furthermore, this unified approach generates optimal, store-specific planograms that allocate the necessary shelf space to meet product demand, ensuring maximum product availability and enhancing customer satisfaction.
“We look forward to supporting Carturesti alongside RELEX with the implementation. With visibility into their supply chain, the solutions will support their goals to ensure their stores are well-stocked with books and strengthen their relationships with suppliers and publishers,” said Bodgan Gross, CEO, re:innovation
“We are excited to embark on our first project in Romania with Carturesti. With our extensive experience in the book retail industry, we are confident in our ability to help Carturesti serve their customers and meet their diverse needs. We look forward to delivering measurable value for Carturesti and supporting their future growth plans,” said Henrik Salzmann, Vice President Sales, Northern Europe, RELEX Solutions