In March 2024, the retailer Gifi made the economic headlines for a reason far removed from its usual commercial successes: a painful IT migration that severely destabilised its business. This misadventure strikingly illustrates the dangers of a poorly controlled digital transformation. It is a reminder of how essential it is to anticipate risks through a rigorous digital audit and to work with an experienced digital transformation consulting firm .
This textbook case, unfortunately a real one, offers many lessons for any company wishing to modernise its information systems. For while digital transformation is a strategic opportunity, it can also turn into an operational nightmare if it is not prepared, framed and supported methodically.
A strong ambition, a badly negotiated turn
In 2016, Gifi launched the Millénium programme. The objective was clear: to support the retailer's rapid growth (nearly 600 shops in France) with an in-depth overhaul of its information system. The stakes were high: modernising ageing IT to support an organisation projected to reach 1,000 shops and more than 10,000 employees by 2027.
The roadmap was ambitious. It included the overhaul of more than 200 business processes, the integration of tools such as SAP ECC 6, Aptos, Reflex WMS and Optimix, and the implementation of a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Years of development, configuration and testing later, the system went live in the summer of 2023.
But from the very first weeks, difficulties appeared: stock errors, product shortages, orders misrouted or impossible to track, and an inability to manage logistics effectively. The result: poorly supplied shops, dissatisfied customers, revenue in free fall (down as much as 9% on the previous year), and a strained cash position.
The absence of a structuring digital audit: the original sin
This disaster scenario could have – and should have – been avoided. The first weak link appears to have been the absence of a complete digital audit upstream of the implementation. A digital audit is not limited to a technical inventory of existing tools. It assesses the organisation's digital maturity, maps critical processes, identifies interdependencies and risks, validates the available resources (both internal and external) and establishes a realistic roadmap.
In Gifi's case, such an audit would have made it possible to:
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Detect the gaps between existing processes and those proposed by the future system.
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Identify the sensitive stages to migrate as a priority.
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Plan a gradual transition strategy with pilot phases.
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Put contingency plans in place in the event of critical malfunctions.
The digital audit, conducted by a digital transformation consulting firm, is often the safeguard that prevents a structuring project from turning into a kamikaze operation. It also serves to challenge technology choices, secure the interfaces between tools and prepare users for change.
The role of the digital transformation consulting firm: conductor and co-pilot
A digital transformation of this scale cannot rest solely on internal teams, who are often already fully occupied with the day-to-day running of the business. It requires support from a digital transformation consulting firm capable of steering the project's complexity and securing every stage.
An experienced external firm acts as a conductor, coordinating the various software vendors, integrators, business experts and operational departments. It also plays a watchdog role, alerting senior management when strategic decisions risk compromising the smooth running of the project.
Its role is manifold:
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Helping to define actual needs (and not merely wishes).
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Organising the project in an agile and pragmatic way.
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Ensuring change management with the teams.
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Supervising the technical implementation and user testing.
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Making sure that business processes are adapted to the new environment.
In Gifi's case, the absence or inadequacy of such external support appears to have contributed to the loss of control over the project.
What lessons for industrial or commercial companies?
The Gifi case is rich in lessons for any organisation contemplating an overhaul of its information system or a large-scale digitalisation project. Here are a few essential best practices:
1. Carry out a complete digital audit before any project
Identify your points of fragility, your critical processes and your organisational constraints. This audit will make it possible to size the project correctly and prioritise actions.
2. Get support from a digital transformation consulting firm
Do not underestimate the complexity of a digital transformation. A specialised firm will help you structure, secure and accelerate the project, while avoiding the common pitfalls.
3. Prepare your teams for change
The success of a project does not rest solely on the tools, but on the men and women who will use them. Training, internal communication, involvement of key users: all of this is essential.
4. Test, test, test
Before any go-live, multiply the tests under real conditions. Better to lose two weeks testing than six months repairing a mistake.
5. Do not give in to haste
An IT migration is a marathon, not a sprint. It is better to delay a go-live than to switch the entire business over to an unstabilised solution.
Conclusion
Gifi's Millénium project had everything going for it on paper. But the absence of a structured digital audit, the poorly assessed scale of the change, and insufficient preparation turned this strategic undertaking into a logistical nightmare. To prevent this kind of misadventure from happening again, companies must rely on a proven methodology and, above all, on a digital transformation consulting firm that can anticipate risks and guide the project to success.
A digital transformation cannot be improvised. It must be thought through, prepared and steered with rigour.
Xavier Schuster
Consultant chez SXE Consulting. Cabinet de conseil industriel base au Luxembourg, 25 ans d'experience en excellence operationnelle.
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