SAP problems we see in retail
Retail SAP landscapes tend to grow one channel at a time. Each new channel gets its own interface, and the merchandise system ends up reconciling rather than leading.
IS-Retail on ECC with a deadline. IS-Retail runs on SAP ECC 6.0, whose mainstream maintenance ends at the end of 2027. The move to S/4HANA Retail touches article master, sites, pricing and every store interface at once.
Store stock that is a day behind. POS sales arrive in overnight batches, so replenishment, allocation and online availability work from yesterday's stock. Stores oversell online orders and planners chase phantom inventory.
POS audit done by hand. Missing or rejected sales transactions sit in an error queue that only one person understands. Until they are cleared, inventory and finance postings for that store are incomplete.
Every channel has its own interface. Web shop, marketplaces, click and collect and wholesale each integrate differently, often point to point with custom code. Adding a new channel takes months and breaks something else.
Article master that nobody owns. Variants, sizes, colours, EANs and supplier data are maintained in several places, so the same product has different descriptions and prices in the store, online and in SAP.
Month end that waits for reconciliation. Store cash, card settlements, returns and marketplace payouts all have to be matched before close, and most of it happens in spreadsheets outside SAP.