CCC Group bridges 800 global stores, saving 300,000 hours annually on operations with Microsoft Teams

CCC Group has firmly established itself as a leading footwear retailer and e-commerce pioneer in Central and Eastern Europe. With a sprawling network of around 800 stores and over 90 e-commerce platforms. CCC is developing concept of the so-called house of brands relies on building a product portfolio based on a few strong, strategic own brands such as Lasocki, Gino Rossi, Badura, Jenny Fairy, Sprandi, and DeeZee. In addition, CCC offers footwear and accessories from renowned partner brands, including Nine West New York, Beverly Hills Polo Club, Mexx, Shaq, Hunter, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, Champion, Vans, and Kappa, while emphasizing a seamless customer journey across all digital and physical touchpoints. To reconcile the two goals and streamline internal communication across its expansive retail network, it sought a unified solution.

Making sense of the global communication puzzle

“The speed of information flow, constant communication, and process control are complicated terrains to navigate in a globally spread retail company,” remarks Małgorzata Luberadzka, Processes Coordinator at CCC Group. Previously, frontline employees used email to communicate, manage tasks, and share reports. “Imagine gathering store feedback from 800 emails and then retrieving the information you need, fast,” describes Mikołaj Przewoźny, Sales Support and Development Manager at CCC Group.

To foster a culture of feedback and rapid problem-solving, CCC decided to manage all communication and tasks in Microsoft 365 for Frontline Workers and Teams. “We aimed to establish bidirectional communication with our store employees, not only to inform, but also listen, because they’re the ones at the front,” notes Igor Jabłoński, Omnichannel and Business Development Manager at CCC Group.

Easing internal dialogue amongst frontline employees

CCC first set up a global Teams channel for company-wide communication and feedback. Next, regional and store-specific operational channels were created for daily tasks, reports, and surveys. “We also integrated Task Manager in Teams to monitor store progress and collect feedback, ensuring consistent standards for product placement and marketing materials,” notes Jabłoński.

Transitioning from emails to Teams streamlined the search process for corporate content, benefiting those requesting and providing information. “When we are looking for a specific procedure, we can open it in SharePoint to see all the connected documentation,” Luberadzka shares. “And any piece of information can be found immediately using a standard keyboard shortcut.”

By digitizing its internal communication, CCC has also brought more sustainability. "Before, we emailed the store manager, who would often print and distribute the emails to the staff,” Jabłoński recalls. “Now, with Teams on everyone's device, there's no need for print copies. We save USD 500,000 worth of paper annually.”

Finally, CCC consolidated frontline employee support in Teams, moving away from email and telephones to enable swift resolution of global inquiries. “The chat fosters mutual assistance among store employees to enhance customer service,” tells Jabłoński. “Whenever someone has a question, they can easily drop it in a designated chat, without worrying about whom to contact or which email to use; and our experts promptly respond.”

Faster, informed, efficient staff

Centralizing internal communication has reinforced a sense of community between employees in different regions, fostering new relationships across CCC’s retail network. Now that information flows faster across the company, CCC staff has also become much more efficient. "With Teams, we are saving 300,000 hours annually with more automated operations," elaborates Jabłoński. This enables store employees to dedicate more time to providing a more responsive service. "Customers experience less possible frustration because they receive information quickly," he adds.

By integrating Power BI into Teams, CCC achieved company-wide operational transparency. “With a shared dashboard, everyone nationwide can see the same results,” Przewoźny explains. CCC store managers receive daily automated Power BI reports via Teams, enabling informed decisions. Additionally, they can provide feedback directly in the report, enhancing trend analysis.

“When we see changes in one area or market, we can gather feedback quickly and implement those changes in another store or area,” says Luberadzka. “We can also pinpoint specific activities in each store that lead to various outcomes to eliminate guesswork. Teams and Power BI give us the opportunity to enhance market awareness and plan better.”

A steady step into the future

Looking ahead, CCC aims to leverage the power of technology further to revolutionize its internal retail processes. "We plan to build dynamic dashboards with personalized data for each employee,” reveals Jabłoński. The company is also exploring using Azure OpenAI Service to revise the staff helpdesk and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) to automate translation, transcription, and summarization of meetings. “We are at the beginning of our journey with Teams,” Jabłoński summarizes. “We can see which direction the world is going, and we want to be on top of those innovations, using them to inform, improve, unite, and expand.”