Island Residents to Gain Faster Access to Goods as Major Retailer Doubles Warehouse Capaci

Residents of Réunion, an island where resupply shipments from mainland France take four to eight weeks, are set to benefit from faster, more reliable access to goods after a major local retailer doubled its order-processing capacity through warehouse robotics.

Groupe RAVATE, which has served the island for more than seven decades and now runs fifteen retail banners across nearly sixty locations in Réunion, Mayotte, and Mauritius, faced a straightforward problem: order volumes for its home improvement and home equipment divisions alone now exceed 700,000 line items annually, and the island’s geography leaves little room for error. When shelves run empty, restocking is not a matter of days. The shift toward omnichannel retail, combining physical stores with online ordering, sharpened that pressure further.

Rather than expand physical infrastructure, RAVATE Distribution, the group’s importing and logistics subsidiary, chose automation. The company selected a Goods-to-Person robotic solution developed by SCALLOG, a French automation firm, and deployed it across two separate logistics facilities in the first half of 2026. The technology uses mobile robots to carry shelving units directly to picking stations, sparing workers the time-consuming task of walking warehouse aisles.

Two installations went live. The first, at the ID Logistics facility handling home improvement products, operates beneath a mezzanine structure. It runs a single picking station, mobile robots, and eighty shelving units across 180 square meters, creating storage capacity for 1,800 items across roughly 800 product references spanning decoration, home improvement, and telecommunications categories. The second, at COR Logistique for home equipment inventory, is substantially larger: two picking stations, six mobile robots, and two hundred shelving units across 750 square meters, providing 5,600 storage locations for nearly 5,000 product references.

The COR Logistique site carries an additional distinction. It marks the worldwide debut of SCALLOG’s Under Rack solution, a configuration that allows ground-level robots to coexist with traditional forklift operations on upper storage levels. Making that work required reinforced QR codes embedded in the floor, engineered to withstand repeated forklift traffic while continuing to guide the robots below. COR Logistique staff received dedicated training in maintenance protocols so they can manage daily operations independently.

Within weeks of activation, the results have been measurable. Order-picking productivity has doubled compared to manual operations. Storage density has improved, making better use of the limited floor space available on an island where warehouse expansion is not a simple option. The system accommodates three shelf formats tailored to different product types, improving both storage accuracy and inventory management. Workers, meanwhile, benefit from reduced physical movement and simpler picking procedures.

Zoubeir RAVATE, Retail Director of Groupe RAVATE, was direct about what made the rollout work. “It requires a genuine vision of the supply chain, a clearly defined strategic plan, reliable and structured data, and close collaboration between business teams, logistics staff, digital specialists, and our partners,” he said. That coordination across ID Logistics, COR Logistique, and SCALLOG allowed both installations to ramp up gradually without disrupting daily operations serving customers across the island.

This deployment is the opening phase of a broader plan. RAVATE is now working to reorganize its logistics platforms according to product type and order flow, with a dedicated facility for small-volume items capable of managing approximately 20,000 product references planned alongside a second platform for high-volume orders, pallets, oversized goods, and bulk items. Whether that restructuring can keep pace with the continued growth of e-commerce demand on an island with finite space and long resupply windows remains the central question for residents who depend on these supply chains every day.

Additional information about the deployment is available at https://www.faq-logistique.com/CP20260831-SCALLOG-Groupe-RAVATE-La-Reunion.htm.