S Group Extends its Partnership with RELEX Solutions to Russia and Estonia

Finnish retail giant S Group has extended its successful partnership with RELEX Solutions, provider of unified retail optimization solutions, by implementing RELEX’s advanced AI forecasting and replenishment solution at its operations in Russia and Estonia. The solution will optimize their fresh produce supply chain, servicing the retailer’s hypermarkets—16 in Russia and 9 in Estonia—as well as their distribution center. RELEX will support S Group as they work toward their goals of having the best goods flow in the industry, reducing inventory levels while increasing availability, and minimizing spoilage.

Since 2012, S Group has been using RELEX across multiple chains and 1000+ stores in Finland. They have seen strong results, including lower waste levels and optimized markdowns as well as more accurate forecasting and planning. Because the solution also calculates shelving and staffing needs, the management of staffing requirements has been easier both in stores and at the DC. Having seen the benefits across its operations in Finland, S Group decided to extend the partnership to include its Russian and Estonian operations as well. With RELEX Fresh optimization in place, S-Group can optimize store replenishments to provide their Russian and Estonian customers fresh groceries sustainably.

“With RELEX’s automation, we spend far less time on manual tasks, which increases our efficiency and leaves us more time to focus on higher-level strategic tasks and customer service,” says Jarmo Paavilainen, CEO at Prisma LLC, part of S Group Russia and Estonia. “S Group and RELEX have a strong relationship of working successfully together to drive value throughout our business. Taking those best practices forward into our Russian and Estonian operations ensures we can optimize planning, reduce food waste, and increase availability for our customers.”

“We are excited to further expand our long-term partnership with S Group while strengthening our position within the Russian and Estonian retail markets,” says Emma Aidanpää-Salmi, Operations Director, Finland and Baltics at RELEX. “The initial impact we saw after going live earlier this year has been really exciting, and RELEX is proud to support S Group Russia and Estonia in achieving their business goals.”