RELEX Closes 2023 with Record Customer Growth

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – RELEX Solutions announced closing 2023 with remarkable growth across annual recurring revenue (ARR), customer net promoter score (NPS) satisfaction, and new customer signings. Overall, RELEX saw 42% year-over-year growth of reported subscription revenue in 2023, and in Q4 2023 realized its 66th quarter of consecutive ARR growth. This growth is attributed to new and expanded customer signings across the globe, as a variety of retailers and consumer goods companies recognize the deep value inherent in the company’s supply chain and retail planning solutions. RELEX delivers quick time to value, and has a flawless track record of successful implementations in the company’s decade-plus history. 

“The bedrock of our customer promise lies in delivering measurable, impactful results, very quickly. We stand by the premise of ‘doing what we say we’re going to do’ which not only instills trust, but confidence,” said Mikko Kärkkäinen, group CEO and co-founder, RELEX Solutions. “I’m very proud of our growth this year, which is directly attributed to the lasting relationships we form with customers from day one.”

In 2023, RELEX closed nearly 200 customer deals, of which 73 were net-new customers. Some of the new customers RELEX signed in 2023 included A.F. Blakemore & Son, bp, Casey’s, Fressnapf, Koala Furniture, Obramax, OXXO, PriceSmart, United Natural Foods, US Foods® CHEF’STORE™ and 7-Eleven Australia. RELEX also saw a 31% increase in customers that chose to expand their business with RELEX to capture additional business value in 2023, which speaks to the measurable results and value customers gain working with RELEX, as evidenced by a company-high NPS rating of 61 globally. The average NPS score for a SaaS company is 41; RELEX consistently scores well above the industry average each quarter. 

With the recent acquisition of Optimity, RELEX also welcomes 80+ customers across highly complex manufacturing and food and beverage industries including Blendwell, Bubbies Ice Cream, Vita Coco, and Finsbury. These customers join the roster of consumer goods companies at RELEX including Altia, Angulas Aguinaga, Atria, Hennig-Olsen, Maag Group, and Saarioinen, among others. Across retail, wholesale distribution, and manufacturing, RELEX currently has a portfolio of over 500 happy customers.

RELEX Solutions Acquires Optimity for Unified Upstream Supply Chain Planning and Optimization Capabilities

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — RELEX Solutions, provider of unified supply chain and retail planning solutions, has announced that it has acquired Optimity, a supply chain planning and optimization provider. The acquisition will bolster the RELEX retail and supply chain platform with daily production planning, optimization, and production scheduling capabilities which are crucial for the end-to-end consumer goods value chain.

 

“The consumer goods industry is incredibly dynamic and complex. Acquiring Optimity will seamlessly link downstream demand with upstream planning, so consumer goods companies can more accurately predict consumer demand, optimize production plans and schedules, adjust inventory levels, and respond quickly to market changes or unexpected disruptions,” said Mikko Kärkkäinen, co-founder and group CEO, RELEX. “This acquisition also further accelerates our vision towards an adaptive, autonomous and synchronized supply chain unifying demand and supply planning decisions in one platform to minimize all wasted cost and product. We warmly welcome the Optimity team to RELEX.”

 

Optimity, with global headquarters in Sweden and offices around the world, offers a broad supply chain planning and optimization solution specifically for manufacturers and distributors. Optimity enables customers to make optimal supply chain decisions from strategic levels to detailed production scheduling. Their offerings include demand planning, production planning and scheduling, supply planning, distribution planning, inventory optimization, and S&OP. With 80+ customers across the food and beverage, and complex manufacturing industries, Optimity’s experience augments RELEX’s expertise across retail and consumer goods markets.

 

The acquisition brings together a highly complementary offering between the two organizations, enabling RELEX to extend and deepen its production planning and supply chain optimization capabilities, such as synchronized daily production planning, optimization and scheduling in the food & beverage and manufacturing sector.

 

New or expanded capabilities within the RELEX unified retail and supply chain planning platform from Optimity include:

●     Production planning: Create optimized production plans from up-to-date forecasts to balance operational costs and flexibility while considering production restrictions, material constraints and business priorities.

●     Production scheduling: Generate and manage optimized production schedules built around constraints to reduce changeover time and bolster manufacturing efficiency. 

●     Network balancing: Rectify imbalances in complex distribution networks to minimize risks, reduce costs, and boost operational efficiency.

●     Distribution planning: Gain complete distribution network visibility to make smarter, proactive decisions aligned with business objectives and customer service goals.

●     Purchase planning: Balance supply-side complexity with end-to-end visibility to pinpoint the most efficient and profitable way to fulfill demand plans and customer obligations.

 

“Our depth in some of the most complex consumer goods industries like bakery, ready-made meals, protein production and industrial manufacturing complements the vast understanding of consumer demand that RELEX has, based on their impressive expertise managing more than $700 billion of demand in grocery alone,” said Christer Liden, CEO, Optimity. “We are thrilled to join the RELEX team and further optimize the consumer goods value chain together.”

 

To learn more about the acquisition, please visit this page.

 

About RELEX

RELEX Solutions helps retailers and consumer brands drive profitable growth across all sales and distribution channels by maximizing customer satisfaction and minimizing operative costs. Our market-leading, unified supply chain and retail planning platform helps retailers and consumer goods companies align and optimize demand, merchandising, supply chain, and operations planning across the end-to-end value chain. We drive record-high product availability, increased sales, improved sustainability, and the best return on investment in inventory, space, workforce, and capacity. Leading brands like Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, Stokke, Rite Aid, Sprouts Farmers Market, AutoZone, and PetSmart trust RELEX to optimize their supply chain and retail planning. Go to relexsolutions.com for more.

 

About Optimity

For nearly two decades, Optimity has challenged the supply chain planning space. Optimity has provided companies with user-friendly yet powerful planning software to optimize even the most intricate supply chains. We believe every supply chain can maximize profits effortlessly with the right tools. Optimity delivers a comprehensive solution, covering strategic optimization to detailed production scheduling. Our expert team, boasting years of industry knowledge, ensures success in every project. Supply chain planning is pivotal for manufacturing and distribution, and Optimity excels in delivering solid solutions for complex supply chains. Our integrated planning tool ensures profitability, simplifying processes for sustainable growth.

Store-Specific Planogram: AI-Driven Trend that Changes Retail Space Planning

In the retail industry, customer expectations are straightforward: they want to easily find the products they need and enjoy a hassle-free shopping experience. If a store falls short in these aspects, it risks losing its place as a preferred shopping destination for customers. That is precisely why the foundation of a great customer experience lies in effective space planning.

Commonly referred to as a planogram, space planning involves optimizing a store's layout and product placement to enhance customer experiences and increase sales. Effective strategies include positioning high-demand and seasonal items near the entrance, ensuring accessibility and visibility in key areas, and adapting layouts based on sales data and customer feedback.

In the Philippines, planogram preparation is mainly a manual process, although retailers use digital tools for sales data analysis. However, for larger retailers dealing with extensive data and numerous products, manual adjustments can become overwhelming. 

Through advanced tech, retail space planning driven by artificial intelligence is now possible. This is in the form of store-specific planograms. RELEX Solutions, a leading supply chain and retail solutions provider, shares its insights on this emerging trend.

“A store-specific or local planogram is one designed for a particular store or location.  Unlike a standardized planogram that may be used for multiple stores, a local planogram takes into account the unique characteristics of a specific store, such as its layout, customer demographics, and sales data,” said Donald “DJ” Felbaum, Head of Sales for the Philippines at RELEX Solutions. “It is tailored to the individual needs and conditions of that particular location to optimize product placement and merchandising to drive sales and improve customer service.”

However, it is often seen as challenging and time-consuming due to the anticipation of lengthy, costly, and uncertain implementation projects. For instance, imagine a retailer with 1,000 stores, each needing weekly updates to five planograms. If one planner creates ten planograms daily, it would require an impractical workforce of 100 planners, along with ongoing training. But the integration of AI and machine learning automation can address these challenges. AI-powered automation can help users configure parameters and apply them across thousands of planograms, saving costs and avoiding additional expenses related to inventory adjustments for layout and local consumer preferences.

The benefits of AI-generated local planogram optimization also include precise store shelf configuration and a one-touch replenishment model. This approach, which enables immediate stacking of incoming stock onto display units, facilitates one-way inventory that results in cost reduction by eliminating the need for staff to transport excess stock to back rooms, enhancing the efficient use of available storage space, and reducing restock frequency of fast-selling products. 

Furthermore, AI and machine learning automation usher in interactive, standardized merchandising reports. These insights unveil concealed issues and provide both macro and micro data perspectives, empowering retailers to proactively optimize product placement, fine-tune pricing, and enhance inventory management. 

Store-specific planograms epitomize the future of space retail planning, optimizing product placement, and enhancing customer satisfaction. Harnessing advanced technology in retail, this tailored approach allows retailers to adapt swiftly to market changes, leading to elevated customer experience, improved profitability, and fostering brand loyalty.

Ber Months' Boom: How AI Optimizes Retail Strategies

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—In Filipino culture, the anticipation and excitement for the holiday season start early. The 'Ber months"—September to December—are traditionally associated with the festive spirit of the holidays. Monthly sales surge during this time, peaking on repeating dates like 9.9, 10.10, 11.11, and 12.12. These specific dates, like 9.9 (September 9th), have emerged as major online shopping events, much like Black Friday in Western countries. Brands often roll out early holiday campaigns, discounts, and special product releases to capitalize on this festive spirit. 

Nevertheless, the prevailing challenging economic conditions are anticipated to persistently affect consumer spending in 2023. According to a recent study, Filipino consumers are expected to persist in seeking cost-saving measures. RELEX Solutions, the market-leading supply chain and retail planning platform provider, offers insights to help retailers navigate the complex economic climate and evolving consumer behavior during the "Ber Months", guiding businesses to maximize profitability while delivering exceptional value to customers.

E-commerce surged during the pandemic, but in-store shopping remains strong for its immediacy and quality assurance. Consumers now compare prices both online and offline to find the best deals. However, for retailers, determining prices and crafting effective promotional offers can be challenging. The traditional approach of A/B testing promotions can occasionally result in inefficient use of products and resources. Moreover, since promotional planning is frequently carried out manually, there is a significant risk of inadvertently setting low profit margins, ultimately reducing overall profitability, even in cases of increased in-store foot traffic.

Consumers have also been seen doing more bulk buying for savings. This surge necessitates robust inventory management that meets the rising demand and replenishes the stock accordingly. Retailers also have to determine the optimal discount for bulk purchases while balancing profitability and operational margins. Tailored promotions to cater to bulk buying customers may also be explored to increase competitive advantage compared to other retailers. 

“As consumers leverage omnichannel to save up, Filipino retailers face challenges in manual inventory and promotion planning for both online and in-store,” shared Donald “DJ” Felbaum, Head of Sales for the Philippines at RELEX Solutions. “With the emergence of technologies like ChatGPT, retailers must consider artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions to streamline these processes and drive growth.”

AI can revolutionize retail operations by enhancing data quality through the integration of company databases and real-world insights. This customized and precise data foundation empowers retailers with a clearer understanding of their data's potential impact. Consequently, retailers can significantly enhance various aspects of their operations, such as precise demand forecasting, efficient replenishment strategies, and optimized promotions, resulting in increased profits and minimized losses.

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About RELEX Solutions

RELEX Solutions helps retailers and consumer brands drive profitable growth across all sales and distribution channels by maximizing customer satisfaction and minimizing operative costs.

Our market-leading, unified supply chain and retail planning platform helps retailers and consumer goods companies align and optimize demand, merchandise, supply chain, and operations planning across the end-to-end value chain.

We drive record-high product availability, increased sales, improved sustainability, and the best return on investment in inventory, space, workforce, and capacity.

RELEX Solutions enhances workforce productivity with RELEX-GPT

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - RELEX Solutions, a leader in supply chain and retail optimization solutions, has developed a new AI tool, RELEX-GPT, leveraging the same AI models as ChatGPT, but in a secure enterprise setting, and with access to RELEX’s rich proprietary knowledge base. This initiative underscores RELEX Solutions’ commitment to harnessing innovation for efficiency.

RELEX-GPT serves as a knowledge hub streamlining access to information about RELEX products and facilitating more efficient workflows across teams. In addition to immediately retrieving and summarizing information, the tool clarifies concepts and answers complex questions. It is an invaluable asset for idea generation and research, catalyzing innovative problem-solving by aggregating relevant data.

"Our early adopters have witnessed increased productivity, a reduction in mundane tasks, and the ability to focus on more meaningful and strategic work," says Tommi Vilkamo, Director of RELEX Labs at RELEX Solutions.  "We are committed to empowering not only RELEX employees but also our customers and partners with these new superpowers and greater job satisfaction through the adoption of RELEX-GPT.”

The initial impact of adopting AI tools such as ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and RELEX-GPT at RELEX has been profound.  An internal survey predicts average productivity gains of 40%, reaching up to 100% for specific roles. The applications of these AI tools are wide-ranging: they contribute to software development by generating code, managing tests, and resolving errors; assists in document creation and editing; and enhances cross-cultural communication through translations and language refinement for emails and presentations.

RELEX Solutions recently released the tool to their online user community as an experimental beta. The tool will naturally enhance the online community’s offerings for solution users, allowing them to easily ask questions and immediately receive answers, and share and discuss best practices related to RELEX products. Looking ahead, as user community feedback becomes available, RELEX intends to seamlessly incorporate RELEX-GPT into the RELEX Solutions product ecosystem, further enhancing the user experience.

While many companies are hesitant to adopt AI technology within their organizations, RELEX Solutions stands out by embracing this cutting-edge technology and empowering their teams to become early adopters. By staying ahead of the curve, RELEX Solutions is driving innovation and enabling their workforce to leverage the transformative capabilities of RELEX-GPT and other AI tools.

Terhi Rekilä,  Senior Legal Counsel & Governance and Regulatory Risk Manager at RELEX Solutions, emphasizes the company's commitment to risk mitigation and comprehensive evaluation of AI technologies. 

"Whenever you look at opportunities and risks, you should look at the whole picture," says Rekilä. "We aimed to establish controls and balances to mitigate the risks by evaluating each AI tool from security, privacy, and legal perspectives. This way, it's possible to reap the benefits of AI, avoid the business risks such as getting left behind by early-adopters, and mitigate potential threats. It's not risk-free to use AI, but no business is risk-free.”

Camillo Särs, CISO at RELEX Solutions, further elaborates on the company's approach to AI risks. "AI tools present a big opportunity to increase productivity as we’ve already seen with our customers and now internally through the use of RELEX-GPT. We proactively considered different risks related to AI use and co-created an AI usage policy to help our AI pilot project along. This allows us to gain the benefits of AI without taking unnecessary risks."

He adds, "We thoroughly analyzed all the risks together with our legal, privacy, and infosec teams. The conclusion was loud and clear: the benefits far outweigh the risks."

Through RELEX-GPT, RELEX Solutions affirms their position at the forefront of innovation, catalyzing transformational changes in the retail and consumer goods industries and shaping the future of supply chain optimization solutions. RELEX has embraced AI and machine learning technologies in their product portfolio since the start in 2005. With an unwavering commitment to innovation, RELEX continues to shape the industry’s future, empowering their teams and customers to stay ahead in a constantly evolving marketplace. 

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About RELEX Solutions

RELEX Solutions helps retailers and consumer brands drive profitable growth across all sales and distribution channels by maximizing customer satisfaction and minimizing operative costs. Our market-leading, unified supply chain and retail planning platform helps retailers and consumer goods companies align and optimize demand, merchandise, supply chain, and operations planning across the end-to-end value chain. We drive record-high product availability, increased sales, improved sustainability, and the best return on investment in inventory, space, workforce, and capacity. Leading brands like Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, Rite Aid, Ahold Delhaize, AutoZone, and PetSmart trust RELEX to optimize their supply chain and retail planning. Go to relexsolutions.com to learn more.

Prince Retail Group partners with RELEX Solutions to Automate Inventory Management and Drive Expansion

CEBU, PHILIPPINES—Prince Retail Group recently announced their collaboration with market-leading supply chain and retail planning firm RELEX Solutions to automate demand forecasting for its 70+ supermarket stores nationwide. The technological investment by the homegrown retail chain strengthens its position to strategically expand its reach in remote areas across the Philippines.

Prince Retail and RELEX established the partnership in 2020 when COVID-19 peaked, and access to essentials was crucial. However, access to retail channels in rural communities in the Philippines has always been challenging due to regional infrastructure hurdles. Prince Retail’s mission is to close this accessibility gap. The pandemic's emphasis on the problem only pushed the retailer’s commitment to finding the means to reach and serve more marginalised people.

At the time, Prince Retail was also burdened with persistent supply chain challenges, which, if not resolved, posed a severe threat to the business’s financial viability. Demand forecasting was an entirely manual process, leaving teams with significant risks for error when internal variables and local developments such as lockdowns, shortages of raw materials, or adverse weather conditions occurred. Maintaining a steady and accurate inventory flow and optimising operational costs in preparation for expansion was taxing as almost every Prince Retail store was about 100 kilometres from the nearest port.

Implementing the RELEX unified retail planning solution enabled Prince Retail to maximise their resources and streamline operational costs and processes while improving service levels to even the most far-flung stores. The retailer’s forecasting and allocation teams can easily input and view inventory information on a single platform, including intricacies and constraints unique to a specific vendor or store. The result significantly reduces discrepancies brought by disparate, manual forecasting methods.

The platform, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), automates the complex and time-consuming decisions of calculating forecasts based on user data and harnesses machine learning to optimise predictions.

"Automating our demand forecasting helped us increase our availability by at least 10%, enabling us to flourish and deliver a better customer experience despite the uncertainties brought by the pandemic," shared Rina Janine Go, Chief Merchandising, Marketing, and Distribution Officer at Prince Retail Group of Companies. "The use of AI greatly supported us to improve our decision-making with data-driven insights that ultimately catalysed our growth and enabled us to serve our customers better than ever before. It helped us seamlessly expand, even with an online channel and other initiatives to reach more customers who were struggling with where to buy their essential necessities.” 

In 2021, the corporate group’s subsidiary Prince Hypermart partnered with the B2B application, “My Suki”, to launch an e-commerce app to cater to the growing number of digital customers, particularly the large base of resellers who source their goods from Prince. The unified tool for demand forecasting allowed the retailer to seamlessly integrate inventory for both online and offline channels in real time.

Prince Retail, who pride themselves on being one of the organisations that quickly pivoted to digital when the pandemic happened, advocates digital transformation for other homegrown businesses due to its positive impact on stakeholders. "Agile digital transformation helped us to streamline our forecasting, better serve our existing customers, and even reach more of the market through our online shopping app—all contributing to the increased confidence and trust in our retail stores.”. 

"I believe it’s also equally important to recognize that investing in technological tools that enable us to move away from manual operations increases the digital skills of Filipino workers, which are essential to be future-ready," Go added.

Stefano Scandelli, Senior Vice President EMEA and APAC at RELEX Solutions, said, "The collaboration with Prince Retail is a great opportunity to show how Filipino companies can take advantage of automation and AI to realise further growth. We are committed to helping more local retailers digitally transform their supply chains to remain relevant in today’s digital economy.”

About RELEX Solutions

RELEX Solutions helps retailers and consumer brands drive profitable growth across all sales and distribution channels by maximizing customer satisfaction and minimizing operative costs. Our market-leading, unified supply chain and retail planning platform helps retailers and consumer goods companies align and optimize demand, merchandise, supply chain, and operations planning across the end-to-end value chain. We drive record-high product availability, increased sales, improved sustainability, and the best return on investment in inventory, space, workforce, and capacity Leading brands like Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, Coles, Siam Makro, Pharmacity, Delivery Hero, and Prince Retail trust RELEX to optimize their supply chain and retail planning.

Go to relexsolutions.com for more information.

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Manage the Effects of Global Supply Chain Disruptions

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — As the Philippines continue to experience high inflation, recording 8.6% in February 2023, Filipinos are expected to adjust their budgets and prioritize essential goods and services. While this poses an opportunity for grocery retailers to increase sales, the ongoing global supply chain disruptions have also made it difficult to keep inventory high and prices low.

According to the World Economic Forum, the invasion of Ukraine is a primary cause of much of the energy and food price inflation in many countries and is fueling a global food crisis. Extreme weather also continues to disrupt the global supply chain by impacting major shipping routes and crop yields. In the Philippines, storms in the 2021-22 crop year caused sugar shortages, resulting in skyrocketing price increases from Php 54.5 to Php 89.5 per kilo for refined sugar.

 

As inflation is expected to remain high in 2023, economists anticipate a recession in major economies, which will certainly affect the developing world. It is also likely this will have a significant impact on grocery retailers. Fortunately, machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence) technology,  like the technology used by global supply chain leader RELEX Solutions, is able to provide insights to diminish disruptions to business operations.

 

Automated demand forecasting reduces operational costs

 

Amid rising costs of goods and services, Filipinos are becoming more price sensitive, seeking sales and markdowns and assessing which shops or channels offer the most competitive prices. Following recent gas price hikes, many online delivery platforms increased their fees resulting in  changes to customer shopping patterns, who are now opting for in-store shopping. With more foot traffic expected in groceries and supermarkets, keeping a high inventory at a low price becomes essential.

 

In order to adapt quickly to these and other changes, retailers should leverage automation and artificial intelligence-driven insights to cut down operational costs and lower the cost of goods and services. AI helps predict the impact of demand drivers such as promotions, prices, product displays, and weather data to accurately forecast demand and optimize replenishment. For retail operations, this means that they can better allocate their manpower and avoid losses.

 

AI allows more efficient inventory management for omnichannel

 

While retailers are expected to have an increase in foot traffic, online channels will continue to be prevalent due to the convenience and savings they offer through digital promotions. According to a report by Meta and Bain & Company, the Filipino digital consumer population is the second largest in Southeast Asia at 69 million and is expected to continue growing its gross merchandise value by 20% by 2027.

 

With the increased demand for omnichannel, retailers should focus on removing silos within their e-commerce and brick-and-mortar businesses and start managing both as a single, unified business. This transformation is a laborious task that requires accurate, real-time reporting to adequately manage customer expectations, making it essential for retail brands to integrate solutions powered by AI. The right tools ensure fulfillment of online orders from stores, customer backorders, and online orders are correctly accounted for in forecasting and inventory planning, even as products are redirected from one fulfillment center to another.

 

AI enables a better customer experience

 

When retailers are out of stock, they’re losing sales and possibly customers. The efficiency of a retailer’s replenishment operation is critical to maintaining customer satisfaction and business profitability. However, a recent study by RELEX Solutions found that close to 50% of retailers don’t know how much stock they have in each store, revealing a gap in the strategic approach to accurate and effective store ordering among these companies.

 

To stay on the consumers’ radar, retailers need to prioritize efficient replenishment systems that address customer needs without burdening resources. With consumers being able to shop anytime and anywhere, AI and machine learning technology help brands keep the right amount of inventory, forecast changes in demand, and adjust replenishment orders, driving improvements to service, sales, and customer satisfaction.

 

“The evolution of artificial intelligence in retail is very timely due to the need for businesses to save up money as current economic conditions push customers and partners to minimize expenses,” said Kristie Davison, Vice President for APAC at RELEX Solutions. “AI helps retailers eliminate excess costs and manage their cash flow for better business sustainability.”

 

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About RELEX Solutions

RELEX Solutions helps retailers and consumer brands drive profitable growth across all sales and distribution channels by maximizing customer satisfaction and minimizing operative costs. Our market-leading, unified supply chain and retail planning platform helps retailers and consumer goods companies align and optimize demand, merchandise, supply chain, and operations planning across the end-to-end value chain. We drive record-high product availability, increased sales, improved sustainability, and the best return on investment in inventory, space, workforce, and capacity. Leading brands like Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, Stokke, Rite Aid, Sprouts Farmers Market, AutoZone, and PetSmart trust RELEX to optimize their supply chain and retail planning.

Go to relexsolutions.com for more information