Cărturești, Romania’s leading bookstore chain and a cultural landmark for book lovers, has partnered with re:innovation to modernize and automate its supply chain planning processes using RELEX Solutions.
With a rapidly expanding network of over 60 uniquely designed bookstores and a diverse assortment of more than 150,000 SKUs - spanning books, stationery, gifts, and cultural products - Cărturești faced growing complexity in managing demand, inventory, and store-specific assortments. To support its continued growth while preserving the unique character of each store, the company needed a more transparent, data-driven, and scalable planning approach.
From Manual Processes to Unified Planning
Before the transformation, several key supply chain activities, including ordering, replenishment, and planogramming, relied heavily on manual processes. Limited stock visibility and the complexity of working with publishers and literary wholesalers - often within fixed availability windows - made forecasting and inventory optimization increasingly challenging.
Together with RELEX Solutions, and with re:innovation as implementation and delivery partner, Cărturești implementEF a unified supply chain planning platform covering:
Forecasting & Replenishment, to automate inventory management and store replenishment while improving on-shelf availability
Space & Assortment Planning, enabling store-specific planograms that reflect local demand, space constraints, and each store’s distinctive design
This integrated approach allows Cărturești to align demand forecasting, replenishment decisions, and shelf space allocation within a single planning environment.
re:innovation’s Role
As RELEX implementation partner, re:innovation supported Cărturești throughout the project with end-to-end implementation and ongoing advisory services. Our role included translating business objectives into optimized planning processes, configuring RELEX solutions to match the realities of Romanian book retail, and ensuring a smooth adoption across teams.
By combining deep local market knowledge with hands-on experience in RELEX implementations, we helped Cărturești gain:
Increased visibility across the supply chain
More accurate demand forecasting
Automated, space-aware replenishment
Store-level planograms tailored to both demand patterns and architectural uniqueness
Supporting Growth While Preserving Identity
The RELEX platform enables Cărturești to act proactively, respond faster to demand fluctuations, and reduce reliance on backroom storage — all while maintaining visually appealing, well-stocked stores. Automated replenishment considers both forecasted demand and available shelf space, ensuring that the right products are available in the right quantities, in the right stores.
This project supports Cărturești’s ambition to scale efficiently, strengthen collaboration with publishers and suppliers, and continue offering customers a curated, high-quality in-store experience — even as the network continues to grow.