A101 is Turkiye's largest supermarket chain, operating over 13,000 stores with more than 61,000 employees and 600+ suppliers. As a leading force in the retail sector, A101's success depends on rapid expansion and efficient operations. Opening new stores requires coordination across multiple teams—site selection, legal approvals, construction, equipment installation, inventory setup, and staff recruitment—all whilst maintaining the company's standards for speed and quality. Managing this complexity manually created bottlenecks that limited the company's ability to capitalise on market opportunities.
A101's store opening process was hindered by manual tracking and coordination difficulties across teams. Each new store required dozens of tasks involving property management, legal teams, construction contractors, purchasing departments, IT infrastructure, and HR. Without a centralised system, tracking progress across all these activities was difficult and prone to delays.
Approval processes created significant workload for multiple stakeholders. Store opening decisions required sign-offs from senior management, finance, operations, and other departments. These approvals moved through email chains and manual routing, creating delays and making it difficult to identify where bottlenecks occurred.
Integration with internal systems was lacking. Critical data needed to be entered into SAP and other systems manually, creating duplicate work and opportunities for errors. When store details changed during the planning process, updates had to be made across multiple platforms, further slowing progress.
These inefficiencies meant A101 couldn't open new stores as quickly as market opportunities demanded, limiting growth potential and competitive positioning in Turkey's dynamic retail market.
Emakin provided A101 with a digitalised store opening platform that coordinates all teams, accelerates approvals, and integrates with SAP.
Centralised Store Opening Workflows
All store opening activities now flow through structured workflows in Emakin. From initial site evaluation through grand opening, every task is assigned, tracked, and monitored within the platform. Teams can see the complete status of each store project, identify pending tasks, and understand dependencies between activities. This visibility ensures nothing falls through the cracks and enables proactive problem-solving when delays occur.
Accelerated Approval Processes
Store opening approvals follow automated routing based on store type, investment amount, and location. The system ensures all required stakeholders review proposals in the correct sequence, with parallel approvals happening simultaneously where possible. SAP integrations accelerate approval workflows by automatically pulling relevant financial and operational data, eliminating manual lookups and data entry. Approvers have complete information at their fingertips, enabling faster, better-informed decisions.
SAP Integration for Data Consistency
Once a store opening is approved, Emakin automatically updates SAP with store details, cost centres, inventory codes, and other critical data. This integration eliminates duplicate data entry, reduces errors, and ensures all systems reflect current information. Changes made during the planning process flow automatically to SAP, maintaining consistency across the enterprise.
Cross-Functional Coordination
Over 100 automated processes support not just store openings but related activities including supplier management, equipment procurement, staff recruitment, and training coordination. All teams work from the same platform with shared visibility into project status and timelines.
A101 achieved a 3x acceleration in store opening processes, transforming from a manual, fragmented approach to a streamlined, digital operation. The company has successfully opened over 12,000 stores using Emakin, demonstrating the platform's ability to scale with aggressive expansion plans.
Digital coordination between teams eliminated the tracking difficulties that previously caused delays. Every stakeholder knows what's required, when it's due, and who's responsible. The automated approval workflows dramatically reduced the time executives spend reviewing store proposals, whilst SAP integration eliminated hours of manual data entry per store.
This operational efficiency directly supports A101's competitive strategy. The company can now respond quickly to market opportunities, opening stores faster than competitors and capturing prime locations. What was once a constraint on growth has become a competitive advantage, enabling A101 to maintain its position as Turkey's leading supermarket chain whilst continuing rapid expansion.
Your teams are ready for better ways to work. Emakin gives you the tools to build, automate, and optimise workflows quickly — so you can focus on growth, not routine tasks.
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