Evaluation of the impact of digitized first-party audit in a large retail company

Digital transition is increasingly affecting the food industry production processes as well as the food safety management tools; among this latter, the auditing system, where digitalization means making use of digital technology to support its preparation, execution, data management, and communication with stakeholders. In this context, this study investigates the use of digitalization in internal audits and evaluates the impact on auditors’ working times and minor and major observed non-conformities (NCs). The survey was carried out from 2014 to 2019 within 27 stores of an important large-scale retail trade in the Tuscany Region (Italy), comparing a digitalized system with the traditional paper-based method. Results indicate a reduction of audit’s front office time by an average of 70% and back-office time by an average of 62%; the number of minor NCs has reduced by an average of 39% and major NCs has reduced by an average of 30%. The adoption of digital technologies in auditing can lead to significant improvement of audit procedures as its scheduling and reporting system. However, it should be noted that significant tecno-managerial investments may be required to fully realize these benefits, which represent challenges to implementation.