Logile & ReThink Productivity partner on retail ops

Logile has partnered with ReThink Productivity across the UK and EMEA, linking workforce management software with productivity analysis for retailers.

The partnership aims to help retailers turn productivity targets into changes in labour planning, scheduling and store operations. It also forms part of the LogileONE Partner Ecosystem, Logile's network of external partners focused on store-level operations.

Retailers in the UK have faced sustained pressure on staffing, cost control and day-to-day execution, particularly where store teams rely on separate systems for forecasting, rotas and production planning. That fragmentation can make it harder to turn a business case for change into measurable results on the shop floor.

Logile's 2025 UK Labour Planning & Optimisation Report highlights the scale of the issue: 84% of frontline retail employees said poor staffing or rota planning was directly causing lost sales.

Closing gaps

ReThink Productivity brings benchmarking based on more than 7 million data points from work study and labour modelling projects across retail and other large operating businesses. Logile contributes its Connected Workforce platform, which manages forecasting, labour planning, scheduling, store execution and fresh operations in a single model.

Together, the companies aim to identify productivity opportunities, measure the financial case for change and embed those changes in day-to-day store processes. The emphasis is on giving retailers a path from diagnosis to implementation, rather than stopping at analysis.

That focus reflects a long-running problem in retail operations, where productivity programmes often stall once they move beyond head office planning. Store managers frequently work across multiple operational systems, even as labour budgets and service expectations tighten.

Fresh categories add another layer of complexity because staffing, replenishment and production plans can shift quickly with demand. In that environment, retailers have sought ways to tie workforce planning more closely to actual store conditions.

James Freshwater, Vice President, UK, EMEA & International at Logile, said the partnership is intended to address that disconnect. "Logile and ReThink Productivity share a strong philosophy: productivity improvement only matters if it can be made practical, measurable and executable in stores," Freshwater said.

"Retailers need better ways to understand where the opportunity is, build the case for change and then operationalise that change at scale. ReThink brings deep productivity expertise, work study discipline and practical operating model insight. Logile brings the connected platform to turn that insight into better forecasting, labour planning, store execution, fresh operations and measurable value. Together, we can help retailers move from productivity ambition to operational reality."

Wider pressure

The tie-up comes as retailers across the UK and Europe continue to reassess operating models in response to cost inflation, workforce shortages and tighter scrutiny of labour practices. For many chains, labour remains one of the largest controllable costs, but changes to staffing models can be hard to sustain if systems are disconnected or store processes are inconsistent.

Consultancies and software providers have increasingly paired operational diagnosis with implementation tools. The logic is that retailers may be more willing to invest when analysis is tied directly to execution in stores.

ReThink Productivity said its work is rooted in understanding how jobs are actually performed in retail environments and where operating models can be adjusted. Simon Hedaux, Co-Founder of ReThink Productivity, said the combined offer is designed to connect those observations with practical workforce planning.

"At ReThink, our purpose is to recognise opportunities and create insights so that organisations make better decisions and deliver a sustained, positive contribution to customers and colleagues," Hedaux said.

"We have deep expertise in helping retailers understand how work is really done, where productivity can be improved and how operating models can be made more practical and measurable. Partnering with Logile gives customers a stronger route from productivity insight to operational value. By combining ReThink's productivity expertise with Logile's Connected Workforce platform, we can help retailers build better labour models, improve planning and create more sustainable ways of working."

Logile was founded in 2005 and focuses on retail operations software, including forecasting, scheduling, task management, inventory, fresh item management and food safety. ReThink Productivity is based in the UK and advises companies on productivity and operating models, with an emphasis on labour modelling and work study.

The partnership highlights a common complaint in retail: productivity strategies may look convincing on paper but fail to stick in stores, where staffing decisions, replenishment and customer service compete for attention. Logile's survey finding that 84% of frontline employees link poor staffing or rota planning to lost sales underscores the commercial stakes for retailers trying to tighten store-level execution.