The Excel Problem: Why Retail Still Runs on Spreadsheets
Despite billions spent on enterprise software, Excel remains the backbone of retail operations. Here's why — and what it would take to change that.
Ersel Gökmen
April 7, 2026
I recently asked a VP of Merchandising at a mid-size retailer what tools her team uses daily. Her answer: "Excel. For everything." Purchase orders, markdown schedules, vendor scorecards, seasonal planning — all in spreadsheets, shared via email.
This isn't an anomaly. It's the norm. And it's not because retailers are behind the times. It's because Excel solves a problem that enterprise software doesn't: flexibility.
Why Excel Wins
A buyer can open Excel and model a scenario in 10 minutes. No tickets to IT, no waiting for a developer to add a field, no rigid workflow. Just rows, columns, and formulas.
Enterprise tools (SAP, Oracle Retail, etc.) are powerful but rigid. They're built for process enforcement, not exploratory analysis. When a buyer needs to answer "what if I increase prices by 8% on slow movers?" — they open Excel.
The Real Cost
The flexibility comes at a price. Version control is "sales_Q2_final_v3_REAL_final.xlsx". One broken formula cascades silently. Knowledge lives in one person's head. And when that person leaves, the spreadsheet becomes archaeology.
A Different Approach
What if you could have the flexibility of Excel with the reliability of a system? That's the bet we're making with Mondian. You ask a question in plain English, the agent writes the analysis (real code, real models), and the results live in a dashboard that auto-updates.
No more version control nightmares. No more broken formulas. And the knowledge stays in the system, not in someone's head.