IKI is a retail chain established in 1992. IKI became pioneers in customer loyalty programs, introduced private labels, and was the first to implement self-service checkouts and open fully autonomous stores.

“Signing documents using e-signature at the company IKI is not only a simple, sustainable, and innovative way to manage contracts. It saves a huge amount of time that we can allocate to other, more exciting projects.” 

Vaida Budrienė, Head of Communications at IKI

Challenge

IKI Lithuania, UAB, managing the IKI retail chain, has invested in modern technologies for some time. However, as in many companies, the pandemic and quarantine restrictions were the main factors that prompted the search for digital tools to streamline work processes. During the pandemic, only retail companies could operate in the country, and they had to act quickly. Work was done remotely, and the work could not stop in any way. Both internal documents and documents with external partners and goods/service providers had to be signed smoothly, so it was necessary to switch to e-signing solutions promptly.

One of the main challenges for the organisation before switching to e-signing solutions was the need for more information on the topic of e-signatures. It was still not completely clear – what it is, what possibilities it unlocks, what to do if one party signs the document by e-signature and the other wants to put a physical one, how to store such documents, whether personal e-signatures, like physical ones, can be used to sign company documents.

Solution

Security and reliability were among the key criteria in choosing an e-signing solution for the company. Therefore, documents needed to be signed with a qualified e-signature. This led IKI to discover the services provided by Dokobit.

After several trials of the Dokobit platform, the company realised that its choice eliminated many inconveniences.

Result

Convenience and accessibility were crucial elements for the IKI retail chain, so they are pleased that Dokobit can be connected to more than one eID tool, for example, Mobile-ID, Smart-ID app, ID card, and USB token. It is also convenient that there is an option to give users administrator rights (then you can grant or remove access, sign procedures, and roles, and remove documents). This is particularly relevant if the company has a specific contract approval process – the system enables its implementation as the signing actions sequence and deadline can be set. Email notifications are also convenient – when you are invited to sign a document, there is a comment indicating whether the document is signed, etc.

In the IKI organisation, documents are signed on a “four-eye” principle, meaning two individuals always sign them. Therefore, signing documents with an e-signature here is truly beneficial: there is no need to search for people physically – everything is found in one place. It is no secret that Dokobit significantly reduced the administrative burden traditionally carried by the creator of the document (usually a contract). Tracking and managing documents in a large organisation are significant challenges, and e-solutions helped overcome them.

Finally, before using e-signing solutions, documents had to be archived somewhere – digitising documents took a lot of time, and having many paper documents was simply impractical. Now, documents are stored neatly and accessible to responsible individuals, and communication with partners and state institutions is much more efficient – there is no need to send various “originals” separately.