Software with a human touch
How Weber Bekleidung AG from St. Gallen has been managing workforce scheduling, time tracking, and team performance across 18 locations and 220 employees with SEAK since late 2018.
Fashion Weber at a Glance
Mode Weber is one of Eastern Switzerland's leading fashion retailers. Founded in 1919 by Ernst and Anna Weber, this family-owned business is now in its fourth generation under the leadership of CEO Lukas Weber. Headquartered in St. Gallen, Weber Bekleidung AG operates seven multi-label stores, ten mono-brand franchise locations, and a dedicated footwear boutique.
Team
approximately 220 employees – equivalent to 150 full-time positions
Locations
18 points of sale: 7 multi-brand clothing stores, 10 mono-brand stores (2 Marc Cain, Marc O'Polo, 8 Street One), 1 shoe store
SEAK customer since 2018
Time & Attendance, Workforce Scheduling (SEAKproHR), Team Performance Monitor (TPM)
Numbers, Data, Facts
Points of sale in Switzerland – 7 multi-brand retailers + 10 franchise mono-brand stores + 1 footwear boutique
Employees, equivalent to 150 full-time positions
international brands in the portfolio
Weber manages its workforce management with SEAK
The Challenge
Mode Weber had grown to a size where manual shift planning at each location was no longer sustainable — at least not if the company wanted to uphold its own standards for fair scheduling, transparency, and footfall-driven staffing. On top of that, the business had to contend with two hard realities facing the retail industry: declining in-store customer traffic and persistently high labor cost ratios.
Four specific pain points were holding them back:
Manual Planning
With 18 retail locations, managing staff scheduling manually at each site had become unmanageable.
Own Standards of Justice
Delivering planning fairness, transparency, and frequency-based scheduling all at once — that simply wasn't possible without the right system in place.
Declining Customer Footfall
Declining foot traffic across brick-and-mortar retail has made demand-driven staffing an operational imperative.
High Personnel Cost Ratio
Labor cost as a percentage of revenue — an industry-wide challenge that Weber was determined to tackle head-on.
Lukas Weber – CEO (4th Generation) – Weber Bekleidung AG
"We had been scheduling shifts manually for each location and were looking for a solution to streamline that process. Foot traffic in brick-and-mortar retail is declining in many areas, and we face the ongoing challenge of reducing our labor cost ratio relative to revenue."
The Decision: A Recommendation from the Fashion Retail Network and Hachmeister & Partner
SEAK came recommended through two independent channels: personal referrals from contacts in the fashion industry, and a recommendation from management consultants at Hachmeister & Partner. Both endorsements proved well-founded — and by the end of 2018, the decision was made to invest in SEAK's workforce management, scheduling, and Team Performance Monitor solutions.
The Implementation: Location Planners Stay in Control — the System Handles Everything in Between
Clear roles, employee preferences in the system, and TPM for root cause analysis
At Mode Weber, each location has a dedicated planner — keeping responsibility decentralized and close to the people on the ground. Scheduling follows the daily revenue plan, and the SEAK system enriches every planning decision with the details that matter most: qualifications, contracted hours, personal preferences, seasonal fluctuations, public holidays, and promotional events.
SEAK is used by the management teams across all seven multi-label stores, as well as by the central HR manager responsible for the ten mono-brand locations. HR management and payroll also rely on SEAK. Through the Team Performance Monitor, Lukas Weber tracks individual employee performance and conversion rates — including on mobile devices.
What the software actually covers
Annual Rough Planning with Merchandise Management
Forecast staffing hours and headcount across the entire year — powered by data from your merchandise management system, seasonality patterns, public holidays, school breaks, and promotional campaigns.
Daily Revenue Planning
Daily revenue planning is the core input for workforce scheduling — planners work directly with this data at the location level.
Qualifications & Features
Employee qualifications and required roles are automatically factored into every scheduling decision.
Contract & Preferences
Contracted hours and personal preferences are factored into scheduling — easier to manage than ever before.
Justice Factors
Tailored scheduling — with workloads distributed fairly across the entire team.
Team Performance Monitor
Analyze the root causes behind current trends — performance per employee, conversion rate by branch, with flexible comparison options.
Location & Multi-Format Logic
18 points of sale across multi-label, mono-brand franchise, and footwear — all managed within a single platform, with location-level accountability and an overarching HR manager assigned to mono-brand stores.
Mobile Analytics
Access TPM data on mobile devices — monitor performance and conversion rates in real time.
Lukas Weber – CEO – Weber Apparel AG
"Communication and information flow are now significantly more efficient. For example, we can see much faster than before whether a staff member can be pulled from a particular branch. Logging and managing employee preferences has also become easier. Overall, the level of transparency is excellent. Picking up the phone is rarely necessary anymore."
The Result: What Has Changed Since Then
A Human Approach You Can Feel
Operational Relief
Controls & Analytics
Employee Satisfaction
Strategic Impact
Lukas Weber – CEO – Weber Apparel AG
"Capacity has been freed up at the management level. We always considered ourselves strong planners. But SEAK revealed opportunities for improvement that we simply hadn't anticipated."
Which modules Mode Weber uses
Lukas Weber – CEO – Weber Apparel AG
"You quickly realize that for SEAK, it's never just about cutting costs. The software reflects a genuine appreciation for the people in sales — a very human approach. At the same time, SEAK is extremely analytical: complex planning tasks become remarkably straightforward. That's what makes SEAK, SEAK."
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.
Family-owned business in Eastern Switzerland – since 1919
Mode Weber is one of Eastern Switzerland's leading fashion retailers. Founded in 1919 by Ernst and Anna Weber, this family-owned business is now in its fourth generation under CEO Lukas Weber. Headquartered in St. Gallen, Weber Bekleidung AG operates seven multi-label fashion stores carrying more than 150 international brands — including Marc Cain, Drykorn, Moncler, and Zegna — alongside ten single-brand franchise stores for Marc Cain, Marc O'Polo, and Street One, as well as a dedicated footwear store.
Lukas Weber describes the company's DNA this way: "We have very deep local roots, a strong culture of personalized customer advice, and we offer international fashion that is carefully curated and thoughtfully interpreted for the Swiss market." With around 220 employees — equivalent to 150 full-time positions — managing this retail network requires software that brings together foot traffic data, staffing requirements, and employee scheduling preferences. Since late 2018, that solution has been the workforce management platform from SEAK.