Keeping nearly 7,000 stores moving across 21 countries through connected and resilient retail operations
Every retail transaction depends on a complex network of processes working behind the scenes. Products need to be available, prices and promotions accurate, inventories synchronized, orders fulfilled and checkout experiences seamless. As consumers move between physical and digital channels, retailers need these operations to work together in real time.
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140
million consumer transactions
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7,000
stores
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21
countries
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31
retail brands
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Every month, we help retailers support more than 140 million consumer transactions. Nearly 7,000 stores across 21 countries and 31 retail brands operate CGI Retail Suite. Behind that scale are everyday experiences consumers depend on, from finding the products they need and receiving accurate prices and promotions to moving efficiently through checkout and shopping consistently across channels.
Keeping retail moving at scale
For retailers, even a few minutes of disruption can affect sales, customer satisfaction and store operations. Keeping thousands of stores running reliably requires inventory, procurement, product availability, pricing and checkout processes to work together.
We help retailers connect these front- and back-office operations, creating a more unified environment for managing the activities that keep stores moving and customers served.
The underlying platform automatically scales to accommodate peaks in traffic, helping retailers maintain continuity as demand fluctuates.
For retailers, these improvements can reduce costs, simplify operations and increase agility. For consumers, they help make everyday experiences, from finding an available product to completing a purchase, more reliable and seamless. Across implementations, our work has supported:
- 33% increase in stores deployed within six months for a DIY retailer, including new company-owned stores and franchise locations
- 30% lower IT and operations costs for a global mass merchandiser operating more than 300 stores across eight countries
- 40% lower point-of-sale maintenance costs for a multi-brand retail group
- 35% lower IT and operations costs for a French DIY retailer, with its first store deployed in five months and full rollout completed in nine months
- 10% average growth in basket size for a leading retailer using unified pricing, promotions and loyalty capabilities, with a three-year return on investment
Responding when consumer demand changes overnight
The importance of resilient retail operations becomes especially visible when consumer demand changes suddenly.
Carrefour experienced this during the COVID-19 lockdown in France. Daily orders through its Drive pickup service increased from approximately 46,000 to more than 90,000 in a single day, creating an immediate need to maintain service continuity while responding to unprecedented demand.
We already supported Carrefour's e-commerce operations for more than a decade. As demand surged, a dedicated team of 20 experts was mobilized to help Carrefour keep pace with the increase and continue serving customers.
In March 2020, Carrefour processed more than 1.5 million Drive orders, compared with approximately 900,000 in an average month, while adding 4 million new customers to the service. Nearly 1,500 Drive pickup points relied on the underlying retail platform to manage orders from customer approval through preparation and pickup.
For consumers, the technology behind these operations is largely invisible and that is part of the point. The impact is felt when products remain accessible, orders continue moving and everyday shopping experiences remain dependable even when demand changes dramatically.
Connecting physical and digital shopping experiences
Consumers increasingly expect shopping journeys to move seamlessly between digital and physical channels whether checking availability online, placing an order, collecting it in-store or completing a purchase at checkout. Delivering that experience requires retailers to connect customers, inventory, pricing and order information that traditionally sat in separate systems.
We help retailers make that transition. In less than 18 months, a home improvement retailer headquartered in France transformed its information systems in Greece and Cyprus, renewing master data, supply chain, store back office, point of sale, e-commerce and customer relationship management. The transformation enabled the retailer to launch e-commerce channels in both countries and manage customer orders beyond physical store boundaries.
Building what's next in retail
Behind every seamless purchase is an ecosystem of technology and people working to ensure that products are available, transactions are completed and stores continue operating. At this scale, reliability and adaptability become more than technology requirements—they are fundamental to the customer experience.
Retail will continue to evolve as consumer expectations, channels and technologies change. What remains constant is the need to keep thousands of stores and millions of everyday interactions running reliably.
As AI increasingly shapes how consumers discover and choose products, access to real-time data is becoming even more important. Product discovery is moving beyond finding an item that meets specific criteria to understanding whether it is available and when it can be delivered. For retailers, making accurate, accessible data available to AI will be critical to delivering these increasingly intelligent shopping experiences.
Thanks to the retailers and teams we work alongside, we continue to help create connected, resilient retail operations that enable retailers to serve their customers today while preparing for what comes next.
