Fast Retailing France transforms its IS with RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Since the early 2000s, the Japanese group Fast Retailing has seen strong growth in its market: retail clothing sales. Among the group’s powerhouses are the Uniqlo and Theory brands, as well as two French brands: Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam.

In early 2021, Fast Retailing Europe wanted to replace its ERP, which was aging and more aligned with the company’s Omnichannel distribution strategy. “We wanted to modernize our information system with a solution that could connect finance, online sales, and physical points of sale,” says Serge Lengagne, CIO Europe at Fast Retailing. “At the end of our scoping phase, it quickly emerged that the SAP S/4HANA offering would be able to meet our needs.”

After an RFP, a classic selection process, VISEO was chosen as our partner. As for the deployment mode, Fast Retailing opted for the cloud from the outset. “We didn’t want to have to manage a data center. Therefore, the RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud offering came at the right time. It allows us to have an SAP S/4HANA ERP installed and operated with SAP, using the hosting infrastructures of a hyperscaler, in this case Google.”

A project lasting 14 (intense) months

Once the decision was made, Fast Retailing embarked on an ambitious program that mobilized business lines and was based on replacing the point-of-sale solution, redesigning e-commerce tools, and implementing the SAP S/4HANA ERP, with help from VISEO teams and other partners. A new integration platform was introduced to orchestrate exchanges between all these application components. The ERP’s scope is particularly comprehensive: purchasing, procurement, sales, distribution, inventory, allocation, finance, and management control. Everything you need for a multi-brand apparel distributor with a multitude of stores and an intensive omnichannel strategy.

Launched in September 2021, the project’s aim was to launch the new IS for the two French brands, Comptoir des Cotonniers & Princess tam.tam, on November first, 2022, i.e., 14 months later. “One of the secrets to Fast Retailing’s success is its operating mode, based on efficiency,” explains Serge Lengagne. For this project, we established tight management and mobilized all the necessary resources. We also ensured that all teams, those of Fast Retailing, integrators or editors, remained fully invested at the highest level throughout the project.”

Fast Retailing segmented its SAP S/4HANA project into two implementation batches, in order to avoid a tunnel effect. The first batch, live in April 2022, concerned master data. The second, in November 2022, involved flows for the entire targeted scope of the project. It now uses stabilized master data, which is a key success factor.

A more agile and secure system

The SAP S/4HANA ERP launch went well, with no major concerns reported during the hypercare phase. “Well-organized governance, proactive direction, and the ability to quickly solve every problem allowed us to launch our SAP S/4HANA ERP on time, in full and at cost,” says Serge Lengagne. All this despite a difficult context related to the health crisis and the need to coordinate the actions of many teams, both internal and external.

In addition to a new ERP, Fast Retailing France’s project included the implementation of new e-commerce and integration solutions. “Together, we’ve taken our digital transformation strategy to the next level. We now have a global, real-time view of our inventory (both in stores and warehouses), which allows us to serve our customers more efficiently.” All sales are reported in SAP CAR, regardless of the channel used, making possible stock disruptions visible.

This new IS has of course been connected to the SAP financial ERP at the group’s headquarters in Tokyo, which now has a complete view of the activities of its French branch. Lastly, SAP S/4HANA implementation was an opportunity to review and update certain processes. “We’re still far from utilizing the full potential of our SAP ERP, and in the coming years we’re looking at SAP S/4HANA to implement options that will allow us to make a difference and give us an edge, to make it an ally and accelerator for our growth,” concludes Serge Lengagne.