Helping customers find products faster at scale

The challenge

Maxeda DIY Group is the largest DIY retailer in the Benelux, operating Praxis stores in the Netherlands and Brico and BricoPlanit stores in Belgium and Luxembourg. With more than 330 stores across Europe and an average of 60,000+ products in store (over 200,000 SKUs online), Maxeda serves more than 1.5 million customers weekly across over 1 million m² of retail space.

The challenge was addressing the most frequently asked question in any retail environment: “Where can I find product X?” Multiply this across 50,000+ products per store, each with its own layout and shelving logic, and across 330+ locations, and the operational puzzle becomes enormous. Maxeda wanted to help every customer find the right product faster while reducing the workload for store employees who were spending significant time answering location queries.

Our solution

WeAreBrain developed a powerful, end-to-end Product Locator platform that helps customers find products inside stores quickly and efficiently. The solution combines smart data structuring, seamless tooling for store staff, and user-facing features that work across multiple channels: website, mobile app, and AI chatbot.

1. Store-first data setup

Each store knows its layout better than headquarters, so instead of forcing a top-down approach, we designed tools that give local store teams full control over how product locations are described. Aisles aren’t just numbers; they’re described in human terms like “aisle 17, left back corner of the store” or “in the back of the drive-in.” We built a system that allows each store to define these labels themselves, ensuring information is always relevant and familiar to customers.

2. Intelligent product-location mapping

Every product in every store had to be connected to a specific spot, and those spots vary per store. We built a custom backend system that integrates with Maxeda’s SAP, applying business logic and data transformation to turn raw product data into actionable product-location links. This resulted in a dynamic database of over 17 million unique product-location combinations across 330+ stores.

3. Supercharged store tooling

To make it easy for staff to set up and manage location data, we developed a custom Android app for their Zebra PDAs. With it, employees can walk through the store, scan a product, and assign it to an aisle in real time. Not every product has to be scanned, which means complete store setup is possible within just 3-4 hours.

The result

Thanks to our comprehensive solution, Maxeda now offers customers seamless product location services across all touchpoints.

1. Instant location visibility

When customers select a store on product detail pages, they instantly see where to find products, both in the mobile app and on the website. New or updated product locations are visible online on the product detail page instantly across both platforms.

2. Personalised navigation

Through in-store wishlists, shoppers can create product lists and receive personalised aisle maps to navigate stores efficiently, reducing search time and improving the shopping experience.

3. AI Product Locator

Our conversational AI chatbot answers location queries like “Where can I find wall plugs?” with exact locations immediately, significantly reducing the workload on store employees while providing customers with instant, accurate information.

4. Empowering store staff and improving services

The platform also helps new employees get familiar with store layouts more quickly, enabling them to assist customers with confidence from the start. It additionally makes it easier and faster for staff to collect products for in-store reservations, ensuring orders are ready on time and the overall pickup process runs more smoothly.

Technology used

• Node.js for backend development
• Kotlin (Android) and Swift (iOS) for mobile applications
• OpenAI for AI-powered product location chatbot
• SAP integration for product data management

Mobile apps: Android | iOS