Source: Deutsche Nachrichten
Many retailers want to automate operational workflows before it is clear who does what, and when. Lagardère Travel Retail deliberately challenged that order. Using its store openings as an example, the company, which operates in more than 50 countries, showed how quickly coordination across departments, teams and markets can become difficult to manage.
Why automation fails in retail without clear responsibilities
Lagardère set up a dedicated opening team only around two years ago. When the company digitalised the coordination of its store openings, the initial focus was therefore not on automating as much as possible. It was on structure: clear ownership, defined processes and traceable tasks. At NRF Retail’s Big Show Europe 2026, this approach was summed up as “cleaning up the room before scaling it”.
The logic is simple. Automating an unclear process mainly speeds up the confusion. Tasks get done twice or not at all, and follow-up questions are scattered across phone calls, emails and messaging apps. Head office often only finds out afterwards that something was missed, which costs time that tightly staffed stores simply do not have.
Which store tasks benefit from task management in retail
What Lagardère experienced with store openings is familiar to many retailers from everyday store operations. Here, too, many parties depend on each other. Head office plans price changes and promotions, replenishment planning manages restocking, and store teams carry everything out alongside serving customers. Whether it is a promotional set-up, a best-before date check, a stock count or a product recall, the key question is always the same: who completes which task by when, and how does head office know it has been done?
The consequences are tangible. If shelf and till prices do not match after a promotion changeover, the result is friction at checkout and lost margin. Items missed during best-before date checks end up as write-offs, and a late promotional set-up loses sales during the campaign week. In the case of a recall, retailers must also be able to prove that the affected products were actually removed from the shelf. For each of these tasks, it should be clearly defined:
- who is responsible and who takes over in case of absence,
- by when the task must be completed,
- how completion is documented, for example by scan or photo.
How task management software lays the foundation for automation and AI
This is why task management software for retail should not operate in isolation. Once processes and responsibilities are clearly defined, existing ERP, inventory or process data can serve as the basis for targeted store tasks. Examples include confirming a price change, carrying out a best-before date check or verifying a recalled item.
COSYS Task Management is part of the modular COSYS Retail Management Software. It can be linked to processes such as goods receipt, inventory management, best-before date checks, stock counts, picking and returns. Tasks can be created centrally and assigned to individual employees or teams. The completion feedback generates process data that can then be used for further analysis.
ERP integration, mobile devices and services
COSYS complements existing ERP and merchandise management systems through interfaces rather than replacing them. Retailers can start with individual processes or pilot stores and expand the solution step by step.
For mobile task handling, COSYS also provides mobile computers, tablets and mobile printers. COSYS MDM and device services support rollout, configuration, updates and central management of the entire device fleet.
Process data and AI-powered analysis
With process data analysis, managers can see which tasks are regularly completed late and where bottlenecks occur. COSYS AI answers questions about this in natural language, based on the company data captured in the system. Typical questions include:
- “Which stores completed last promotion week’s price changes late?”
- “Which product categories had the highest best-before date write-offs last quarter?”
- “Which task types most often remain open?”
This turns task management into more than a tool for daily task assignment. It becomes the data foundation for ongoing process improvement.
Practical tip: observe first, then digitalise
Choose one recurring task, such as the best-before date check in the dairy aisle. For two weeks, record across several stores who actually carries it out, when it is completed and how completion is reported. The gaps between the planned and actual process show which responsibilities and workflows need to be clarified before automation is scaled.
Looking to establish clear responsibilities, tasks and feedback loops in your store operations?
Contact the COSYS team for individual advice on task management, retail management software, ERP integration and process data analysis. Arrange an appointment at vertrieb@cosys.de or +49 5062 900 0.
Alternatively, you can try the free COSYS Retail Demo App for Android and iOS.