Can Same-Day Grocery Really Work at Scale? Inside Rohlik Group

How does Rohlik Group deliver a full weekly grocery shop at same-day speed - with 18,000 SKUs, fresh food, bakery and no substitutions? In Episode 1 of What’s In Store - Making Sense of Modern Retail, hosts Sharon Yourell Lawlor and Renee Hartmann go behind the scenes at Gurkerl’s Vienna fulfilment centre, part of Rohlik Group, to see how one of Europe’s most advanced online grocery operations actually works - and the role Veloq, Rohlik Group’s technology arm, plays in enabling it. At its Vienna site, Gurkerl offers 18,000 SKUs, three-hour standard delivery and 60-minute express - combining the breadth of a weekly grocery shop with the convenience of same-day delivery. The episode follows the journey behind that customer promise - from breadth of assortment, fresh produce and bakery through AutoStore robotics, picking and packing to dispatch and the last mile - exploring how Veloq’s technology, automation and operational know-how help orchestrate the complexity behind the scenes. Petr Lizner, Director of Strategy & Growth at Rohlik Group and Veloq, and Pablo Cueto Mateos, Vienna Fulfilment Centre Manager, explain how people and technology come together to deliver the proposition - and what other grocery retailers can learn from the model. KEY FIGURES FROM THE EPISODE • €1.8 billion revenue across Rohlik Group’s five European markets • 18,000 SKUs at the Gurkerl Vienna fulfilment centre • 3-hour standard delivery and 60-minute express • 60–70% of orders fulfilled same-day • 95% perfect-order rate - rising to 98% excluding the 15-minute slot measure • 0.5% shrink versus 2–3% for traditional retail stores, as cited in the episode • Up to 500 units per hour picker productivity in robotised sectors versus 100–150 in manual sectors • Around 13 minutes from an express order being received to leaving the fulfilment centre • 14 AutoStore grids operating across Rohlik Group CHAPTERS 00:00 Inside Rohlik: How Same-Day Grocery Actually Works 01:32 Rohlik & Veloq: Making Online Grocery Profitable 05:15 The Full Weekly Shop: Choice, Speed & Loyalty 09:21 No Substitutions: Getting the Order Right First Time 12:31 Fresh at Scale: Choice Without Compromising Speed 15:56 Freshness, Bakery & Reducing Food Waste 19:43 Inside AutoStore: Automating Grocery Fulfilment 25:01 Humans + Robots: Productivity & Quality 29:46 From Order to Door: 13-Minute Fulfilment 32:47 The Last Mile: Delivering the Customer Promise 36:28 What Other Grocery Retailers Can Learn WHAT’S IN STORE - MAKING SENSE OF MODERN RETAIL What’s In Store - Making Sense of Modern Retail is a content series that takes viewers inside the stores, spaces and businesses shaping modern retail. Hosted by retail strategists Sharon Yourell Lawlor and Renee Hartmann, the series goes behind the scenes with retailers, brands and the businesses enabling them to explore what they’re doing, why they’re doing it and what others can learn. Each episode connects the dots between retail strategy, operations, technology and the shopper experience, bringing real-world retail innovation to life and translating what is happening on the ground into practical insights for the wider industry. The series explores topics including retail innovation, shopper experience, technology, store design, retail media, convenience, operations and the changing role of the physical store. Observe. Decode. Explain. Inspire. FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE Petr Lizner – Director of Strategy & Growth, Rohlik Group & Veloq Pablo Cueto Mateos – Gurkerl Fulfilment Centre Manager FEATURED ORGANISATIONS Rohlik Group: https://www.rohlik.group/ Veloq: https://veloq.com/ Gurkerl - Rohlik Group’s Austrian online grocery business: https://www.gurkerl.at/en-AT/ HOSTS Sharon Yourell Lawlor & Renee Hartmann Follow Sharon Yourell Lawlor on LinkedIn:   / sharonyourelllawlor   Follow Renee Hartmann on LinkedIn:   / reneehartmann   #RetailInnovation #GroceryTech #SameDayDelivery #RetailTechnology #Ecommerce #supplychain