E-grocery company moves to the cloud to scale up operations

Eastern European e-grocery company Košík partners with grocery providers and retailers and serves the Czech and Bulgarian markets.

The online supermarket is driven by technology, digitalisation and automation and its mission is to “feed people in a digital way.” The company is also focused on growth and so, to scale up its operations and access new markets, Košík implemented a cloud-based strategy with Microsoft Azure.

When Košík started out in 2015, the company built its own hardware infrastructure, however, to expand, it adopted a new cloud-based strategy which meant it would benefit from shorter time-to-market and lower operational costs.

The company’s cloud strategy has now been extended to its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and eShop and includes Microsoft 365 as its basic office solution.

“It was a kind of natural step forward,” recalls David Pěknic, Chief Technology Officer at Košík.

Košík’s ERP has been integrated into Azure and the company also uses SAP S/4HANA to manage its operations and can scale up digital resources during peak periods, such as the Christmas season.

“The timing of migration of SAP S/4HANA to Azure was very well thought through,” added Pěknic. “We started early November and stabilised our systems just before Christmas time. During the Christmas rush, we had enough resources to process orders in our warehouse and with our ERP. Actually, the Christmas right after our migration was the first Christmas that our ERP didn't fail.”

Thanks to the migration to Azure, Košík was more equipped to deal with the unprecedented demand that the COVID-19 pandemic brought.

“SAP S/4HANA integration into Azure is literally helping us to automate and save time,” Pěknic continued. “It also lets leadership see what it takes to really deliver an order of grocery to the end customer.”

Košík also now uses Microsoft Teams to work remotely which has been essential for productivity and collaboration within the company. “Teams is a cure for everything in Košík. If you don't know what to do, go to Teams and you will find it,” Pěknic said.

“Microsoft was able to educate us on the benefits of the cloud, and then execute on those promises,” says Pěknic. “I think that’s the key factor to our success.”