RELEX Solutions announced today that it has acquired Zenopt, an advanced workforce optimization system, in a move that strengthens its position as a trusted provider of unified retail planning solutions. The acquisition signals RELEX’s dedication to the workforce planning space, coming two years after the company’s original Zenopt investment in 2017.
RELEX’s Workforce Optimization and Management solution will work in conjunction with its Demand Forecasting solution, automatically optimizing work shifts based on store-level demand. Using granular data with up to 15 minutes of accuracy, RELEX customers can ensure they have the right staff on hand to service each store’s need at each moment of the day.
Even minor improvements to workforce planning can deliver significant cost savings, as personnel costs typically account for some 10-20% of turnover in retail. Retailers leveraging RELEX’s Workforce solution stand to save millions in unnecessary labor costs by reducing over-staffing. By reducing under-staffing, they also ensure that store staff are not overburdened by their workloads and are available to provide a high level of service to shoppers, improving employee and customer satisfaction as well as sales.
These results have already been borne out by the work RELEX and Zenopt have conducted with leading grocery retailers such as Coop Värmland, Stockmann and K Group. Coop Värmland have already, in the initial phases of their roll-out, seen a 6–10% reduction in their overall personnel costs alongside major improvements in their ability to match work shifts to demand.
“Working with the RELEX team for the past two years has been extremely exciting and productive,” said Zenopt CEO Mika Halme. “It’s allowed us to test the limits of what the software is capable of achieving in a unified retail planning context. As part of the RELEX platform, I see a lot of possibilities for how we can continue improving the solution to make a direct and positive impact for retailers.”
“By fully incorporating the Workforce Optimization and Management solution into our solution suite, we’re able to help our customers bridge yet another gap in their retail planning,” said RELEX Group CEO Mikko Kärkkäinen. “Our goal is always to reduce costs, increase profits, improve employee experience and help our customers keep their shoppers happy. The Workforce solution is a powerful tool to achieve that goal.”