Industry
Retail
Omnichannel CX and Intelligent Innovation – The Future of Retail
HIGHLIGHTS
- Coop Sweden modernised its retail foundation with a unified SAP S/4HANA platform, enabling intelligent, scalable operations across planning, replenishment, and logistics.
- By integrating automation with a strong digital backbone, Coop improved supply chain agility, inventory visibility, and operational efficiency across its retail ecosystem.
- The transformation enabled faster, data-driven decision-making and positioned Coop to leverage AI and automation for long-term retail innovation and growth.
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Why Coop Sweden modernised its retail operations?
Coop Sweden, a leading food retailer, plays a vital role in serving millions of customers through its extensive network of stores and distribution operations. Guided by a strong commitment to affordability, sustainability, and customer experience, the organisation strives to deliver quality food in a welcoming environment while creating a positive impact on society and the environment.
As retail continued to evolve rapidly, Coop recognised the need to strengthen its operational and digital capabilities to support future growth. To support this vision, the organisation embarked on a strategic transformation that included investing in one of Northern Europe’s largest automated warehouses and modernising its digital foundation.
The goal was to build a more agile and scalable operating model that could support increasing digitalisation, high transaction volumes, and the growing role of AI in retail operations and decision-making.
Coop Sweden builds a unified retail platform for smarter ops
What challenges limited Coop Sweden’s retail operations?
Coop’s legacy IT landscape, built on mainframe systems and fragmented processes, had gradually become a barrier to operational agility and scalability. The siloed environment created inefficiencies across business functions, limited flexibility, and made it increasingly difficult to respond quickly to changing business demands.
The absence of a unified digital platform also constrained the organisation’s ability to effectively manage and leverage data across the enterprise. This limited visibility and intelligence across critical areas such as supply chain responsiveness, store performance, inventory planning, and assortment optimisation, making faster, more informed decisions difficult.
These challenges became even more pronounced with the introduction of the highly advanced automated warehouse in Eskilstuna, Sweden. The scale and complexity of automated operations demanded a more responsive and resilient digital backbone capable of enabling precision in inventory movement, seamless logistics coordination, and real-time system integration across the value chain.
Coop also needed to respond faster to shifting customer demand, optimise operational costs, and drive greater agility across its retail ecosystem. The existing systems added operational complexity, limiting scalability, and made it harder for the organisation to realise the full value of automation and digital innovation.
Christian Zachariev
CESO, Coop Sweden
By investing in a fully automated warehouse and modernising our technology foundation, we have created a more efficient, dependable and precise operational flow. With a more responsive supply chain and better master data, we can now predict demand and make faster replenishment decisions”
Abhijit Niyogi
Vice President and Business Head, Retail – UK, Europe & India, TCS.
Our partnership with Coop Sweden focused on building a modern digital foundation to enable greater flexibility, scale and smarter decision-making. Together, we have created a reliable platform that supports consistent operations today and positions Coop Sweden for the next generation of intelligent retail”
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How TCS built a unified retail platform for Coop Sweden?
TCS partnered with Coop Sweden on a large-scale transformation to build a modern, unified digital platform aligned with its business priorities and long-term growth.
At the heart of the transformation was the implementation of a greenfield SAP S/4HANA-based architecture designed to replace legacy systems and establish a composable, scalable technology foundation. Connected planning, replenishment, and logistics functions brought greater consistency, transparency, and real-time visibility across operations
The transformation was executed through a highly collaborative delivery model, with TCS and Coop operating as one integrated team. Strong governance and clear prioritieshelped the teams manage the scale and complexity of the program.
The transformation also focused on making operations more intelligent and data-driven. By strengthening master data management and integrating systems across the value chain, Coop gained access to more actionable insights that supported better decision-making across areas such as demand forecasting, inventory optimisation, and supply chain planning.
The transformation was delivered with minimal disruption to day-to-day operations
The initiative also simplified and automatedprocesses to support the advanced warehouse operations and improve efficiency across logistics and supply chain functions.
How the transformation improved Coop Sweden’s operations?
The transformation has helped simplify operations and created a stronger foundation for future growth.Coop now operates on a unified digital platform that simplifies processes and reduces operational complexity, helping teams make faster, more effective decision. Enhanced real-time visibility across planning, replenishment, and logistics functions has strengthened coordination and improved responsiveness across operations.
The modernised supply chain has significantly improved demand forecasting and inventory management capabilities, helping ensure that stores receive the right products at the right time. This has strengthened stock availability, improved store performance, and contributed to a better customer experience.
The integration of automation with a strong digital backbone has also enhanced the precision and efficiency of warehouse and logistics operations, particularly at the Eskilstuna automated terminal. Goods now move more seamlessly from warehouse to shelf, supporting consistent and reliable service delivery across stores.
The ability to leverage data-led insights and AI-driven opportunities has also positioned the retailer for continued innovation and long-term growth. Coop is now more agile, allowing it to respond more effectively to changing customer expectations and market dynamics.
Coop is now better positioned to deliver efficient, reliable, and customer-centric retail services at scale, with a modernised digital foundation aligned with its business objectives.