The verdict in three sentences
For a retail group where half of the workforce has no work email address, the real issue is not the tool but frontline access from a phone. SharePoint remains relevant if your head office already lives in Microsoft 365 and you accept buying licences for store staff, while a custom mobile intranet costs more upfront but removes the login barrier. Aim for a 70% adoption rate within six months and pick the option that reaches it at the lowest five-year total cost.
Three priced options for 1,600 employees
The network has 85 stores, a head office in London and about 800 people on tills, shop floors or stockrooms who have never had a mailbox. 2026 orders of magnitude for the UK and Western Europe:
| Criterion | SharePoint + integration | Market solution (Staffbase, Workvivo, Sociabble) | Custom mobile intranet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup cost | EUR 15,000 to 40,000 excl. VAT | EUR 5,000 to 15,000 excl. VAT | EUR 40,000 to 90,000 excl. VAT |
| Recurring cost | M365 F1/F3 licences: EUR 2 to 8 per user per month | EUR 3 to 6 per user per month | Hosting and maintenance: EUR 8,000 to 15,000 per year |
| Access without email | Possible via F1 accounts, heavy admin | Native (SMS, store code) | Native, your choice (staff ID, SMS) |
| Rollout time | 3 to 4 months | 2 to 3 months | 4 to 6 months |
| Business customisation | Medium (Power Apps) | Low to medium | Full |
| Code ownership | No | No | Yes |
| Vendor dependency | Microsoft | High | Low |
The figure that tips the decision is recurring cost: at EUR 5 per month, 1,600 users mean EUR 96,000 excl. VAT per year. Over five years, a market solution often costs more than custom, unless you only license active staff.
What store staff actually expect
A retail intranet fails when it copies the head-office intranet. Sales associates check the tool for a few minutes, standing, between two customers. The features that drive adoption:
| Feature | Frontline use | Impact on adoption (estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| Rota and shift swaps | Check the rota, offer a swap | Very high, weekly use |
| Payslips and HR documents | Download a payslip or certificate | High, monthly use |
| Instructions and promotions | Promo plans, merchandising, photos | High for managers |
| Group news feed | New openings, results | Medium |
| Short training (3-min video) | New product, safety | Medium to high |
| Directory and head-office contacts | Reach payroll or logistics | Medium |
An intranet that only offers news often caps at 25 to 35% active users. With rota and payroll, retail groups see rates of 60 to 80%. These two modules require connectors to your scheduling software and HRIS, which accounts for 20 to 30% of a custom project budget.
Legal and technical watch points
- Data protection and staff consultation: an intranet displaying rotas and payroll data must be documented under GDPR (UK GDPR in London) and presented to employee representatives. Allow 4 to 6 weeks in the schedule.
- Personal phones: if employees use their own smartphone, access must stay optional or be compensated, and the app must not collect location data.
- Authentication: staff ID plus SMS code costs roughly EUR 0.05 to 0.08 per SMS. For 1,600 people, the budget stays below EUR 2,000 per year.
- Hosting: require hosting in the UK or the EU and data reversibility written into the contract.
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Sophie, HR director of an 85-store home furnishing group, compares two five-year scenarios for 1,600 employees. Market solution: EUR 10,000 setup, then EUR 4.50 per user per month, i.e. EUR 86,400 per year and EUR 442,000 over five years. Custom mobile intranet: EUR 70,000 development including rota and payroll connectors, then EUR 12,000 per year for maintenance and hosting, i.e. EUR 130,000 over five years. Even adding EUR 30,000 of enhancements, the gap exceeds EUR 280,000. Sophie picks custom, but first runs a pilot in 8 stores to validate adoption before full rollout.
FAQ
Is SharePoint enough for a store network?
It is if your frontline teams already have Microsoft 365 F1 or F3 licences and Teams access. Otherwise, licence costs of EUR 2 to 8 per user per month and account management complexity hold adoption below 30%.
How long to roll out an intranet across 85 stores?
Allow 4 to 6 months for a custom project, including 6 to 8 weeks of pilot. Rolling out in waves of 15 to 20 stores limits the load on managers.
How do you measure the 70% adoption rate?
Measure monthly active users against total headcount, not the number of accounts created. A realistic path is 40% after one month, 60% after three and 70% after six.
Native app or web app?
A progressive web app (PWA) is enough in most cases and avoids app stores. It costs 20 to 30% less than separate iOS and Android apps and updates without any action from staff.
Can the intranet also host training?
Yes, a module with short videos and quizzes adds roughly EUR 8,000 to 15,000 to the project. It often replaces part of classroom sessions costing EUR 150 to 300 per trained employee.
Let's scope your project. Send us your headcount, your scheduling and payroll tools and your timeline: we will price a pilot and then a full rollout of your mobile intranet. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
