Salling Group's Journey to Digital Transformation and Growth

Salling Group's journey to digital transformation and growth is a fascinating story. The company's commitment to innovation began with the launch of the Føtex digital platform in 2013, which allowed customers to shop online and pick up orders in-store.

This move marked a significant shift in the company's approach, as it expanded its online presence and improved the customer experience. By 2015, Føtex had become one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Denmark.

Salling Group's focus on digital transformation was driven by a desire to stay ahead of the curve and meet changing customer needs. The company's leadership recognized the importance of investing in technology and data analysis to drive growth and improve operations.

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Salling Group is a leading retail company in the Nordic region. It was founded in 1947 by Søren Salling, and today it has grown to become one of the largest retailers in the region.

The company operates a diverse range of stores, including Salling, Bilka, and Føtex, which offer a wide selection of products.

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Salling Group's transformation began with a bold move to replace their old SAP Hybris platform with commercetools Composable Commerce.

This migration allowed them to take advantage of best-of-breed vendors for every aspect of commerce, a game-changer for their multiple brands.

They chose Magnolia for their CMS, Vue Storefront for the frontend, and Solr for search, while keeping their ERP solution powered by SAP intact.

This modernization made Salling Group faster and more agile in addressing customer expectations.

Mobile traffic was a significant concern, accounting for more than 60% of total traffic to all of their websites, so making UX designs responsive was a top priority.

With composable commerce, they were able to tackle this challenge with ease.

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The Company has big plans for the future, and 2100 Plus is a key part of their vision. They're aiming to have a significant presence in the market, with a strong focus on innovation and customer satisfaction.

By 2100, the Company expects to have expanded its product line to include cutting-edge technologies that will revolutionize the industry. Their goal is to be at the forefront of this revolution.

Their commitment to sustainability is evident in their plans for 2100 Plus, which include the development of eco-friendly products and services. This will not only reduce their environmental impact but also appeal to customers who share their values.

The Company's investment in research and development is a key factor in their success, and they're planning to allocate even more resources to this area in the coming years. This will enable them to stay ahead of the curve and continue to innovate.

Their focus on customer experience will remain a top priority, with a continued emphasis on providing excellent service and support. This is reflected in their plans for 2100 Plus, which include the development of new tools and resources to help customers get the most out of their products.

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Sustainability is a top priority for Salling Group, and they're committed to doing their part in addressing climate change. They recognize that no business can solve this complex issue alone, so they're working closely with stakeholders to maximize their contribution.

Climate change is a pressing challenge, and Salling Group acknowledges its impact on the planet. They're taking steps to promote a healthier future for all by offering healthy solutions to their customers and ensuring a safe working environment for their employees.

Salling Group is committed to contributing to their local communities and minimizing their footprint throughout their value chain. They're actively working to overcome the challenges facing the world today, but they're not doing it alone – they're collaborating with customers, employees, suppliers, and partners.

By working together, Salling Group aims to make a positive impact on the environment and create a better future for everyone.

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Salling Group has a long-standing commitment to supporting Danish athletes and football teams.

The company partnered with The Danish Football Association (DBU) in 2024 to promote equality, better well-being, and education for all national teams from U16 to the women's and men's national teams.

This historic agreement includes grassroots initiatives and football schools for children, marking a significant step towards a more inclusive and supportive football culture.

Salling Group's partnership with Team Denmark has been ongoing since 2009, providing Danish athletes with access to experts in areas such as sports physiology, diet and nutrition, and mental health.

The Salling Foundations, the owner of Salling Group, has been instrumental in supporting Team Denmark and Danish athletes, helping them to reach their full potential.

By investing in these partnerships, Salling Group demonstrates its dedication to the development of Danish sports and its commitment to the well-being of the country's athletes.

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Salling Group faced a major challenge in strengthening its omnichannel experience to serve customers across different touchpoints.

The company's multiple brands operated on an outdated commerce platform, SAP Hybris, which led to high licensing and maintenance costs.

This inefficiency required skilled developers that were hard to find and expensive to train, making it a costly and time-consuming solution.

Salling Group overcame these challenges by replacing their old monolithic SAP Hybris platform with commercetools Composable Commerce.

This modernization allowed the company to take advantage of best-of-breed vendors in every aspect of commerce, making it faster and more agile in addressing customer expectations.

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Salling Group, the largest retail group in Denmark, faced a major challenge in strengthening its omnichannel experience to serve customers across different touchpoints.

The company's multiple brands operated on an outdated commerce platform, SAP Hybris, which led to high licensing and maintenance costs. Moreover, to customize the experience, Salling Group had to create workarounds on SAP, a highly inefficient process that required skilled developers.

Salling Group aimed to be scalable and cost-efficient, but its current setup hindered its ability to achieve this goal.

High licensing and maintenance costs, combined with the need for skilled developers, made it difficult for Salling Group to keep up with customer expectations.

The company's outdated commerce platform and inefficient processes made it hard to find and train developers, further exacerbating the problem.

Salling Group's goal was to be at the forefront of customers' needs, but its current setup held it back from achieving this goal.

Salling Group's reliance on multiple hyperscalers, including Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud, made it difficult to track costs accurately due to different billing models and ways of displaying costs.

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Product Information Management is a crucial aspect of commerce data consolidation. Consolidating data from multiple brands onto a single platform is a key benefit of PIM.

Having a unified platform streamlines data management and reduces errors. This is particularly important for businesses that need to manage data from multiple sources.

By consolidating commerce data, businesses can improve data accuracy and reduce the risk of outdated or incorrect information.

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The Salling Group's success can be attributed to its move to composable commerce. This shift yielded a significant impact on the company, with webshops operating at warp speed, boasting a 140 milliseconds response time.

The Group achieved its omnichannel goal by consolidating data on one commerce engine, providing consistent pricing, product information, and discounts across all touchpoints. This consolidation allowed for the seamless addition of new touchpoints and countries.

The modern commerce benefits came in handy during the pandemic, as the Group scaled to higher traffic volumes without extra operational costs. The Click & Collect service saw a 150% growth, while line traffic increased by 30%.

The Group reduced its total costs of ownership by 75% and shortened its time-to-market to just two months. This was made possible by consolidating its webshops under one commerce engine.

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Salling Group's key capabilities are centered around its strategic business model.

The company operates a retail business with a strong omnichannel presence, offering customers a seamless shopping experience across its stores, online platforms, and mobile apps.

Salling Group has a significant presence in the Nordic region, with a strong market position in Denmark.

Its retail business is supported by a robust logistics and supply chain system, ensuring efficient and timely delivery of products to customers.

The company's focus on digital transformation has enabled it to leverage data analytics and artificial intelligence to better understand customer behavior and preferences.

Salling Group's commitment to sustainability is reflected in its efforts to reduce waste, increase energy efficiency, and promote environmentally friendly practices throughout its operations.

Salling Group is actively building a culture of collaboration and cost consciousness across the organization.

This culture shift is being driven by the development of a FinOps practice, which will help team members work together more effectively.

By having all team members use the same system daily, Salling Group is creating a unified environment where everyone has access to the same data and cost visibility.

As a result, Salling Group is able to make changes quickly when issues arise, which is crucial in a competitive industry with tight margins.

The company's goal is to promote a culture of cost consciousness, and they're achieving this by streamlining their cost data collection process.

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