SAP Fiori · Design Thinking · Retail Store Operations
Consumer and Retail SAP ECC SAP Fiori SAP SD
A major home improvement retailer puts real-time product lookup in store associates’ hands with SAP Fiori
Home-improvement retailer Delivered 2017
A Design Thinking workshop with store associates exposed why product lookup was failing on the floor, and an agile Fiori build gave associates real-time SAP data on the Android device they already carried.
By the numbers
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Minutes to seconds
Product lookup time for store associates
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12+ applications
Store-floor Fiori apps built across the engagement
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1 device
The Android the associate already carries, no new hardware
Before
Desktop-bound SAP, minutes per lookup
- Product information required multiple SAP T-Codes and data from systems outside core ECC.
- SAPGUI tied associates to desktop terminals, forcing them to leave the customer to get an answer.
- Lookups took minutes, not seconds, while associates were multitasking on the floor.
After
Real-time data on the floor
- A Fiori app on the Android device every associate already carries, with real-time product data from SAP ECC.
- Lookups that take seconds, done while standing next to the customer.
- A configurable app framework reused across twelve-plus store-floor applications.
Why this matters
The best retail technology is the kind that never makes a customer wait. A Design Thinking workshop showed exactly where the old process was failing, and a focused Fiori build fixed it on the device associates already had in their hands.
The challenge
Store associates needed fast, accurate product information while standing next to a customer on the floor. The reality was the opposite. A single article often required multiple SAP T-Codes to pull a complete picture. Lookups pulled data from systems outside core ECC. SAPGUI tied associates to desktop terminals, so getting the answer meant leaving the customer.
Lookups were measured in minutes, not seconds, while associates were simultaneously helping customers, stocking shelves, and watching inventory. In-store real-time inventory figures were not always reliable. The moment that matters most for the associate-customer relationship is answering a question on the spot, and the existing tools made that nearly impossible.
What we did
Mindset ran a Design Thinking engagement to understand what was actually breaking down. An extensive workshop brought store associates, managers, and the IT team into the same room. Observing real users and facilitating a week of ideation together produced a low-resolution prototype of a mobile-first application that ran on the Android device every associate already carried into the store.
An agile development team then built the application sprint by sprint, targeting a four-to-six week delivery window. The goal was a Fiori-based app that was mobile, device-agnostic, easy to maintain, secure, and configurable to the retailer's specific workflow, processes, and branding.
The product lookup app was the anchor of a broader store-floor program that also included a store app, a store app, and a store app divisional launch functionality, language and store selectors, and a multi-stage the pro-customer app dashboard build.
The outcomes
Mindset delivered a SAP Fiori rapid product-lookup application that gives associates real-time product data on the floor, without walking to a terminal or switching between multiple SAP T-Codes. Associates can have an informed conversation with a customer the moment the question comes up.
The app is configurable to the retailer's workflow, process, branding, and store requirements. The Design Thinking foundation meant both the associates who use it and the IT team who manages it were part of shaping it from the start.
The engagement grew into a dozen-plus opportunities across store-floor Fiori applications, all built on the same mobile-first, Design Thinking-led approach established in the initial product lookup work.
If we built this today
Concept · not delivered scopeOne question, the whole article picture.
This is a forward-looking concept, not the scope we delivered on this engagement. It is the build we would reach for now, grounded in SAP that ships today.
The real problem was that a single article took several T-Codes and a walk to a desktop terminal, so today we'd let an associate just ask, on the floor, and get the full product picture back in seconds.
The data product
Cloud ERP Intelligence
A governed Intelligent Application on SAP Business Data Cloud that gives the assistant one trusted, real-time view of article, price, and availability across formerly separate systems. No data copy, it reads live against S/4HANA.
Intelligent Application on SAP Business Data Cloud
The Joule agent
Article Lookup Assistant
A store associate asks one plain-language question on the floor and the assistant reads product master, pricing, stock, and sales data across the systems a single article touches, then proposes a complete answer with availability and substitutes. It replaces the multi-T-Code hunt with one conversation grounded in SAP Knowledge Graph.
SAP S/4HANA Retail, SAP S/4HANA Sales (SD), SAP Joule · PROPOSE · Time-to-answer per product lookup on the floor (seconds, not minutes)
The Fiori app
A product information lookup app with embedded Joule
An OOTB S/4HANA product information app with Joule built into the launchpad, so an associate can type or speak a question and get the full article picture in one place instead of jumping between transactions. Runs mobile-first on the device an associate already carries.
Embedded in the Fiori launchpad, mobile-ready
We'd mine the actual lookup process in SAP Signavio first, map the system landscape it spans in SAP LeanIX, and let MIND accelerators carry the old Fiori app forward to the new one.
What we built
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Lookup time cut from minutes to seconds
Fiori rapid product-lookup application
A mobile-first SAP Fiori app running on Android devices, giving store associates real-time product information on the floor without leaving the customer or logging into SAPGUI.
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Cross-functional team alignment before development started
Design Thinking discovery workshop
A structured workshop with store associates, managers, and IT that mapped the current-state lookup pain points and produced a validated low-res prototype before a line of code was written.
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Part of the broader store-floor Fiori suite
a store app Fiori app
A Fiori application supporting store walk workflows, built on the same mobile-first architecture as the product lookup app.
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Delivered as part of the a store app divisional launch
a store app Fiori app
A mobile Fiori application for pack-down workflows, extending the store-floor program with a consistent user experience.
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Multiple build stages completed across the engagement
the pro-customer app dashboard (multi-stage build)
A multi-stage Fiori dashboard for Pro Desk associates, built in phases and incorporating language and store selectors for multi-market use.
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Reused across twelve-plus applications in the store-floor program
Configurable app framework
The application architecture was designed to be configurable by workflow, process, branding, and store, so the retailer could adapt it to new use cases without a full rebuild.
A look at the work
