“We didn't want to make that compromise.”

Vašák: Rohlik operates twelve fulfillment centers, seven of which use AutoStore automation technology. Over the past ten years, we have optimized our solution to offer our customers an attractive product while ensuring profitability. This has allowed us to develop the first fulfillment platform specifically tailored to the grocery retail sector. AutoStore's technology complements this perfectly.

Forre: We are also seeing a renewed surge in interest in automation. The food retail sector experienced a strong boom in automation technology from 2017 to 2022, which subsided after the COVID-19 pandemic. Capital was expensive, and some locations were built too large and subsequently downsized.

Vašák: The idea behind Veloq and our collaboration with AutoStore is to deliver the entire shopping cart on the same day. With an assortment of 25,000 items and delivery within three hours, that's quite unique. We achieve a Net Promoter Score of over 90 percent. Most retailers either offer a very small assortment or only deliver the next day. We didn't want to compromise on that.

Forre: We usually get our shopping home within a few hours or minutes. Retailers are therefore at an advantage if they can offer customers more delivery options. An attractive offer can increase demand for e-commerce. We observed this in the Czech Republic, where Rohlik launched its e-food service.

Vašák: Customers increasingly expect same-day delivery. That retailers who can offer this service have a long-term advantage is evident in the markets where Rohlik operates: As soon as we introduced same-day delivery, it quickly became the norm for customers, and other retailers followed suit. In the US, this trend is primarily driven by Amazon and Walmart, which deliver entire shopping carts within increasingly shorter time windows. The situation in Germany is similar to that in the UK, where many customers have become accustomed to same-day delivery – especially since the Covid pandemic. This service then becomes essential for retailers to survive in the market and achieve long-term success. Same-day delivery not only offers customers significantly greater convenience but also increases order frequency and strengthens customer loyalty.

Vašák: The initial investment costs are naturally low. However, as soon as demand increases, order picking can negatively impact the customer experience both in-store and online. The problem then arises that many employees are using handheld scanners on the sales floor, making it impossible to guarantee product availability. In our view, the tipping point at which retailers should switch from order picking to automated fulfillment is around 300 to 500 orders per day. The advantage of AutoStore systems is their modularity. This allows the system to be scaled gradually as order volumes increase, for example, by adding robots and progressively expanding capacity.

Forre: Profitability has always been the challenge in e-commerce with groceries. Rohlik uses a model that is sophisticated from both a technological and strategic perspective and takes a holistic approach. Our jointly developed fulfillment system can also help other retailers optimize their processes and ultimately have a positive impact on their profits.

Vašák: Automation can reduce process inefficiencies and thus also cost inefficiencies. The goal is to automate highly repetitive, physically demanding, and time-critical process steps more reliably and efficiently. In online grocery retail, this helps retailers to use scarce labor resources more effectively, support employees in their daily work, and simultaneously improve quality, availability, and delivery speed. Picking robots and automated dispatch take over clearly defined tasks.

Vašák: Introducing automated dispatch was the next logical step to achieve further efficiency gains. Automated dispatch makes it possible to locate, sort, and prepare completed orders very reliably and at high speed.

Vašák: Absolutely. All future Rohlik warehouses will be automated with this technology.

Vašák: Yes, we are currently in discussions with numerous international retailers who are very interested in implementing our fulfillment system in both Europe and the USA.