With IBM Planning Analytics, Notino transformed planning into a collaborative, data driven process that connects strategy, execution, and profitability
Across Europe, retailers operating at scale are under increasing pressure to plan faster, align a growing number of functions, and respond more effectively to market volatility. As organizations expand into new markets, planning processes that once supported the business well often need to evolve, connecting financial and operational perspectives while preserving consistency, control, and transparency across regions.
Notino’s growth followed this path. As the company expanded its footprint to 27 European countries, the scope and complexity of planning increased significantly. Finance and business teams were required to coordinate plans across multiple functions, markets, and business dimensions, while maintaining accuracy and alignment. Over time, Notino’s planning processes became increasingly difficult to manage. Annual and rolling plans relied on more than 130 separate Excel files, with limited version control and heavy manual effort. Preparing a single plan required extensive consolidation and validation work, leaving little time for analysis or scenario modeling.
To continue supporting its growth trajectory, Notino recognized the need for a more robust and integrated planning approach. The objective was not simply to accelerate planning cycles, but to establish a shared foundation that connected financial and operational plans, improved visibility across the business, and enabled faster, more confident decision making as market conditions evolved.
To support its next phase of growth, Notino conducted a structured evaluation of planning solutions, including vendor comparisons and reference visits. The company selected the APOLLO solution provided by ADEOS s.r.o, an IBM Silver Partner, built on IBM® Planning Analytics. This combination offered the performance required for complex, real time multidimensional planning, while accelerating deployment through proven methodological content.
APOLLO is a modular solution that is configured for the customer environment as part of a consulting engagement. Instead of starting from a blank slate, Notino leveraged prepackaged data models, calculation logic, planning forms, reports, and analytical views. This significantly reduced the complexity and duration of implementation, while preserving the flexibility to respond to new or expanded business requirements over time. With each update, APOLLO continues to evolve with additional, practice tested modules, extending the value of the IBM platform.
Implementation was carried out in close collaboration between Notino’s controlling team, BI specialists, and ADEOS s.r.o consultants. As Vladislav Hanák, CEO at ADEOS s.r.o., puts it: “IBM Planning Analytics is a powerful and flexible foundation, and APOLLO is a solution built on it that accelerates time to value. Together, they help clients like Notino create a planning environment that evolves with the business.”
The project followed a phased approach, allowing teams to adopt new planning processes gradually and apply lessons learned along the way. Within approximately nine months, Notino implemented multiple planning areas, including sales planning and full financial statements covering P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow.
As planning moved off spreadsheets, processes became more collaborative and decentralized. Departments such as marketing, logistics, and cost center owners now enter and manage their plans directly in the system, improving ownership, data quality, and alignment across the organization.
With IBM Planning Analytics in place, Notino now operates a fully integrated, end to end planning environment used by more than 80 active users across finance, sales, marketing, logistics, and operations. What was once a fragmented, spreadsheet driven process has become a single, consistent source of truth for planning and forecasting across the business.
The most immediate impact has been significant time savings across the planning cycle. Preparing annual budgeting templates, which previously required several mandays of manual setup and distribution, is now handled through simple parameter changes, reducing effort from days to just a few hours. Vojtěch Hotárek, Financial Planning and Analysis Director at Notino, explains: “This wasn’t just about moving faster, it was about working smarter. With IBM Planning Analytics and APOLLO, we freed our teams from data reconciliation and empowered them to focus on what truly matters: understanding the business and shaping better decisions”.
The biggest improvement came in budget consolidation and validation. Previously, consolidating inputs from 130+ Excel files and checking data consistency took several days to a full week, and any change meant starting over. Today, consolidation runs automatically, with validation completed in minutes or hours, enabling faster iterations and more agile planning. Data handoffs have also been streamlined: manual uploads that once took up to a full day are now automated, with data available in reporting systems within minutes. As a result, planning cycles that once stretched over months are now completed in weeks, allowing Notino to forecast faster and respond more effectively to change.
Looking ahead, the company plans to expand the platform into areas such as advanced profitability management and warehouse planning, continuing to strengthen its integrated business planning capabilities as it grows.
Founded in 2004, Notino is a leading European online retailer specializing in beauty and personal care products. The company operates across 27 European countries and serves millions of customers through a broad portfolio of brands and products. Headquartered in the Czech Republic, Notino employs approximately 2,300 people and continues to grow rapidly across international markets.
ADEOS s.r.o is a Czech-based IBM Business Partner specializing in enterprise planning, performance management, and analytics solutions. As an IBM Partner Plus member, ADEOS s.r.o helps organizations modernize financial and operational planning by combining deep business expertise with IBM technologies.
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