Transforming the foodservice industry with digital at scale
Musgrave MarketPlace scaled to 83% digital revenue in under two years.
growth of digital sales in five years
of delivered revenue is being placed digitally
SKUs live online
“It has changed the way we take orders completely… Today, about 83% of the delivery orders we capture are placed digitally.”
Challenge: Foodservice ordering is more complex
Musgrave had to deal with multi-temperature logistics, contract pricing, customer-specific assortments, and a lot of SKUs, which their existing basic ordering site couldn’t handle. Legacy system silos, no PIM, and flat-file interfaces made it hard to get real-time accuracy and limited scalability. This led to inefficiencies and put customer trust in danger.
The problem was clear:
- Complicated deliveries with different temperatures, assortments for each customer and contract pricing
- Old systems that couldn’t integrate with a PIM
- A lot of SKUs and shipments that are split across DCs and suppliers
- The old platform couldn’t grow since it wasn’t scalable
“There were definitely elements of the customer proposition that we couldn’t address because of the limits of existing systems.”
Niall Mullally, Head of Digital CX, Musgrave Wholesale (Musgrave MarketPlace)
Solution: A composable B2B commerce platform built for scale
Musgrave selected Intershop’s B2B commerce platform to manage the complicated world of foodservice with as little customization as possible. The new solution made it easier to place orders while handling complex delivery logistics, prices, and a large volume of SKUs behind the scenes. A new PIM and a Mirakl marketplace expanded the catalog to 35,000 SKUs, offering customers not just a broader choice but also reliable availability. The result is a commerce platform that can grow and adapt to the future while still keeping Musgrave’s focus on relationships.
The solution developed:
- B2B commerce core: Contract pricing, assortments, and reorders are out-of-the-box features.
- Little customization: A platform that’s easy to upgrade and use.
- Combining ERP information with PIM gives real-time accuracy and the potential to grow the business.
- Expanding the marketplace: 20k SKUs via Mirakl added to 15k core products.
- Personalization: Recommendations enabled by Intershop boost sales and customer loyalty.
- Embedded delivery model: Musgrave owns the strategy and P&L, with help from Infosys.
“Intershop gave us many out-of-the-box B2B features and the flexibility to scale.”
Niall Mullally, Head of Digital CX, Musgrave Wholesale (Musgrave MarketPlace)
How Musgrave uses AI and Experimentation to boost B2B E-Commerce Performance
Results: Digital adoption, revenue growth, and scalable operations
Musgrave MarketPlace turned its wholesale division into a digital-first channel. Digital adoption happened quickly, with 83% of the delivered revenue now coming from online sales and a digital sales increase of more than 750% in just five years. The platform has had a long-term effect, as shown by its steady growth of 20%+ year over year.
Customers appreciate that the user experience is optimized for retail, foodservice, SMEs, click-and-collect, and delivery. Personalized recommendations and content make it easier to find new products and increase the share of wallet. Adoption was so easy that a lot of the customers moved online without training or incentive.
Results at a glance
- In just five years, digital sales have grown more than 750%.
- E-commerce accounts for 83% of all delivered revenue.
- 35,000 SKUs online, combining the core range with the marketplace expansion
- Growth of over 20% year-over-year on top of previous years
- The first-of-its-kind B2B MarketPlace in Ireland
People-first approach with B2B-first technology
The correct technology and a rollout that put people first led to success. Intershop’s B2B functionalities work right out of the box, so Musgrave doesn’t have to worry about hazardous customization and stays close to vendor roadmaps. The platform was made to help business development managers, not replace them, so that trust could be kept in an industry based on relationships. An embedded delivery model, a lean in-house team backed by Infosys, made it possible to grow quickly while still retaining strategy and P&L in-house.
Future: Expanding digital leadership to more markets
Musgrave wants to make its Intershop-powered commerce platform available to its wider brands and improve its business growth in Ireland. In the future, the company plans to work on:
- more personalized experiences,
- AI-driven recommendations, and
- conversational support to make ordering even easier.
Musgrave will keep growing its share of wallet, making its business more resilient, and providing trusted, relationship-driven service by scaling the marketplace model and tightening back-office integrations.
“Order capture is digital, but the relationship stays human. That balance is what sets us apart.”
Niall Mullally
About Musgrave
Musgrave Group is Ireland’s biggest grocery distributor and has been in the same family since it was founded in 1876. The group is well known for its retail brands SuperValu and Centra. It also runs Musgrave MarketPlace, a wholesale business that serves all of Ireland, with additional operations in Spain and the UK. Musgrave’s sales surpassed €5 billion in 2023.
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