• Sector: Retail (Greeting Cards & Gifts)

• Client: Card Factory  – Over 1,000 stores across the UK and Ireland

• Challenge: Reduce energy costs across a large retail estate, support sustainability goals, and gather actionable data for ESOS compliance.

• Solution: Deployed EMMA AI to monitor energy usage across 193 stores during a 3-month pilot, providing real-time insights without the need for additional hardware or IT integration.

• Impact: Achieved return on investment in under three months; rapid scalability led to rollout across 900 stores, enhancing energy efficiency and supporting long-term sustainability planning.

Card Factory is the UK’s leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, gifts, and celebration essentials, with over 1,000 stores across the UK and Ireland. Founded in 1997, the company operates a vertically integrated model, designing, manufacturing, and retailing its products in-house—which helps keep costs low and respond quickly to trends. With energy savings high on the agenda, Optimal Monitoring‘s EMMA AI was deployed across an initial number of stores as part of a pilot.

• Reduce energy costs across a large retail estate

• Support and evidence progress towards sustainability commitments

• Achieve immediate cost savings with minimal disruption

• Gather accurate, actionable data to support ESOS compliance

• Inform long-term sustainability investment planning through insight-driven reporting

EMMA AI’s ability to provide real-time data and identify energy-saving opportunities with no capex made it the perfect fit. EMMA AI was deployed for an initial 3 month pilot to track daily energy usage across 193 stores identifying where electricity consumption could be reduced.

• ROI: Achieved in under three months.
• Integration: No IT integration aiding security and speed of rollout.
• Scalability: Rapid roll out from pilot to 900 stores using data from existing meters.
• ESOS compliance: Automated data collection for clear insights and proven reduction in consumption.

Card Factory is now using EMMA AI across various stores to build on the pilot’s success and increase savings across the board. This roll-out will give the retailer accurate monitoring, improved energy efficiency, and reduced operational costs across multiple stores.