Matmissionen shares donated goods fairly across stores with real-time inventory insight
Matmissionen is a Swedish social supermarket chain that fights food poverty by selling donated goods from grocers and suppliers at affordable prices, with a focus on social and ecological sustainability.
Because Matmissionen relies entirely on donated goods, it has little control over what arrives or when. It needed a system that could track inventory in real time, share products fairly across stores, and manage customer purchase limits. Working with LS Retail partner Azets, it implemented LS Central as its POS and retail management system, customized for its social retail model.
Donated goods managed from arrival
Matmissionen manages donated goods from the moment they reach the central warehouse. In LS Central, staff scan arriving items to set quantities, confirm they are in the system, set pricing and customer purchase limits, and allocate stock across stores.
One connected operation, in real time
With LS Central, Matmissionen's warehouse, partnership management and stores now share information in real time, reducing delays and manual work. This supports the speed the organization needs when donated goods must be received, sent to stores and sold on the same day.
"Now we finally have our partnership people connected to the warehouse and connected to the stores. Before, these were three different systems," says Alexandra Matrai, COO at Matmissionen.
Fair distribution of donated goods
Matmissionen can distribute limited, unpredictable supplies more fairly. Instant insight into inventory in LS Central supports faster decisions on allocation, pricing and promotions, so donated goods are divided equitably between stores and among customers.
"The biggest benefit we have seen is to divide the products more fairly between both stores and unique customers," says Johan Rindevall, CEO at Matmissionen.
Reporting on social and ecological impact
Matmissionen can measure and share the difference it makes. Integrated reporting in LS Central lets the organization track social and ecological sustainability outcomes and communicate them to stakeholders.
What was holding the business back
Matmissionen's supply chain depends on donations, so supplies swing from day to day, making it hard to plan, meet demand and offer a balanced range. Each store ran independently, coordinating through shared documents, while the warehouse, partnerships and the stores ran as three separate systems with no integration.
The decision and foundation
Matmissionen chose Azets for its experience with complex retail projects and its ability to meet unusual requirements. Azets developed customizations around donation-based inventory, customer purchase limits and real-time distribution across stores.
"Our IT partner really took to heart the special needs that we have in our business. We are not a standard store, and there's been a real willingness to listen and understand, then come with suggestions on how to adapt the new system," says Rindevall.
Q&A: insights from the implementation
Why did Matmissionen implement LS Central?
Matmissionen implemented LS Central because its donation-based supply chain made inventory difficult to plan and distribute. Stores operated independently, and warehouse, partnership management and store teams worked in separate systems. Matmissionen needed real-time inventory tracking, fair distribution across stores and customer purchase limits.
What does Matmissionen run now?
Matmissionen runs LS Central as its POS and retail management system, customized for its social retail model. It combines point of sale, store management, inventory, reporting and financial processes in one platform.
How does Matmissionen handle donated goods?
Matmissionen scans arriving goods into LS Central at the central warehouse to set quantities, pricing and customer purchase limits, and to allocate stock across stores. The connected process supports fast handling when goods need to be sent to stores and sold the same day.
How does Matmissionen share donated goods fairly?
Matmissionen uses real-time inventory insight in LS Central to make faster decisions on allocation, pricing and promotions. This helps donated goods be divided more fairly between stores and among customers.
How are Matmissionen's teams connected now?
Matmissionen now connects partnership management, the warehouse and the stores through LS Central. Before the implementation, these areas worked as three separate systems, which created delays and manual work.
How does reporting support Matmissionen's mission?
Matmissionen uses integrated reporting in LS Central to measure and communicate social and ecological sustainability outcomes. This helps the organization show stakeholders the impact of its social supermarket model.
