Overtime down 80% — in year one
How GÜ Sport, an Intersport franchise retailer operating 8 stores across Saxony and Thuringia, uses SEAK to align staffing with customer traffic — and rethinks workforce planning on the shop floor.
Intersport GÜ Sport at a Glance
Intersport GÜ Sport is an owner-operated sporting goods retail chain with eight locations across Saxony and Thuringia. Owner Rüdiger Günl has been managing the business using SEAK's workforce scheduling solution since spring 2016 — and by his own admission, he wishes he had discovered the full depth of the software sooner: "I'm frustrated that I waited so long to make this investment."
Market Segment
Sporting Goods Retail
Locations
8 Intersport locations across Saxony and Thuringia
SEAK customer since 2016
Workforce Scheduling (SEAKproHR)
Numbers, Data, Facts
Overtime hours in the first year after implementation — with the same headcount
Hours of lead time saved per year through optimized shift starts
Branches in Saxony and Thuringia – planned across regional holiday cycles
Intersport GÜ Sport Plans Workforce Scheduling with SEAK
The Challenge
As the number of branches and employees grows, effective workforce management without intelligent software becomes nearly impossible. At Intersport GÜ Sport, scheduling decisions were often made on gut instinct — with no reliable data or figures to provide clarity and objectivity. One telling example: up to five employees were regularly arriving 30 minutes before store opening, with little to no productive work to show for it.
Four specific pain points were holding them back:
Gut feelings over data
With eight locations and a growing workforce, gut feeling alone was no longer enough to drive productivity.
Unproductive Lead Time
Up to five employees on-site before the store opens — without being truly productive.
High Overtime Levels
Overtime was a persistent issue that could only be effectively addressed with solid, data-driven insights.
Regional Complexity
School holidays in Saxony and Thuringia follow different schedules — without accurate planning data in place, this becomes an ongoing headache.
Rüdiger Günl – Owner – Intersport GÜ Sport
"We had been exploring this topic for quite some time. When comparing different providers, we found that the SEAK solution was more comprehensive than any other — mapping the realities of trade down to the finest detail."
The Deciding Factor: Acquiring a SEAK Franchisee Tipped the Scales
GÜ Sport had already been exploring the topic for some time. The deciding factor was the acquisition of a sports retail business that was already working with SEAK. In the vendor evaluation, SEAK stood out for its depth of functionality and retail-specific focus — including details such as configurable promotions and regional school holiday calendars.
The Execution: Store Managers Plan, Data Drives
With SEAK, GÜ Sport now manages staff scheduling across all eight locations on a single, unified platform. Store managers are the primary users of the system, which incorporates promotional campaigns, regional school holiday calendars, and location-specific daily traffic patterns. A real-world example: pre-opening staffing has been significantly streamlined — instead of five employees arriving at 8:30 AM (for a 9:00 AM store opening), the optimized schedule now brings in two staff at 8:30 AM, two at 9:00 AM, and one at 9:30 AM.
What the software actually covers
Store-Level Demand Planning
Staffing requirements per location, based on historical data and defined targets.
Storable Promotions
Promotions are built into the plan and factored into staffing requirements.
Regional Holiday Logic
School holidays for Saxony and Thuringia displayed separately — no manual cross-checking required.
Weekday Trends
Day-of-week demand patterns are surfaced in the planning process and made fully actionable.
Lead Time Control
Pre-opening attendance times are planned with precision — eliminating unproductive buffer time.
Plan Secondary Activities
Non-sales activities are also deliberately accounted for in the plan.
Individual Scheduling Preferences
Employee preferences are taken into account — more easily than ever before.
Plan vs. Actual Data
Actual hours versus planned hours for achieving target revenue – with a clear productivity trend at a glance.
Rüdiger Günl – Owner – Intersport GÜ Sport
"If we reduce lead times and save just four hours per day across all our branches, that adds up to more than 1,200 hours over the course of a year — hours we can then redirect to the moments when our advisory and service quality needs to be at its very best."
The Result: What Has Changed Since Then
80% Fewer Overtime Hours, Faster Turnaround, Stronger Client Advisory
Business Management
Employees & Customers
Data Management & Control
Lessons Learned
Rüdiger Günl – Owner – Intersport GÜ Sport
"Thanks to the SEAK system, we reduced overtime by 80% in the very first year — without adding a single additional headcount."
Which modules Intersport GÜ Sport relies on
Rüdiger Günl – Owner – Intersport GÜ Sport
"The system is very comprehensive. But thanks to the onboarding training provided by a SEAK specialist, we were able to get up and running quickly and start seeing results right away. Reaching the support team is easy and hassle-free."
Let's talk about whether SEAK is the right fit for your business
In a 30-minute introductory call, we'll assess where your business stands today, identify which modules are the right priority for your situation, and outline a realistic implementation roadmap.
Alternatively, you're welcome to reach out via our contact form — we'll get back to you promptly. Or give us a call at: +49 40 238 348 – 000
The Trade Trusts SEAK
From fashion and food retail to building materials and specialist trade: retailers across Germany rely on SEAK to manage their workforce.
Sports Retail in Saxony and Thuringia
Intersport GÜ Sport is an owner-managed specialty sports retailer operating eight stores across the German states of Saxony and Thuringia. Owner Rüdiger Günl runs the business with a clear separation between strategic leadership and day-to-day store management — with store managers serving as the primary users of the workforce scheduling system.
Managing locations across two states with different school holiday calendars and distinct regional footfall patterns makes workforce planning a complex challenge. This is precisely where SEAK delivers: store-level demand logic and consistent, data-driven decision-making — replacing reactive, gut-feel scheduling with reliable, structured planning.