POWERING THE UK’S NO. 1 MULTI-BRAND & MULTI-CHANNEL RETAILER P R O J E C T PA R T N E R S
POWERING THE UK’S NO. 1 MULTI-BRAND & MULTI-CHANNEL RETAILER W R I T T E N B Y
Andrew Woods
P R O D U C E D B Y
Kiron Chavda
V I D E O B Y
M a t t y Tr e t t
P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y A n d y Ty l e r
2
3
Let’s meet the team behind Sainsbury’s Tech: a brand-new technology division delivering integrated tech solutions across all Sainsbury’s brands and channels…
S
ainsbury’s is a beloved British institution with a long-standing reputation for
quality and service, at fair prices, from its 1,400-plus UK stores for 150 years. From a butter shop on Drury lane, the retailer now has a stable of several other equally lauded household names: Argos, Nectar, TU Clothing, Sainsbury’s Bank, and Habitat in the modern-day
4
SAINSBURY’S TECH
incarnation of the business.
are born from the digital sphere. How can
But existing within a highly disruptive
processes be accelerated, data pooled,
and competitive market, Sainsbury’s
and the customer experience enhanced
challenge, shared by many large-scale
across a number of brands? This trans-
enterprises, is how to escape the conf-
formation is a business-wide challenge
ines of a traditional structure, formed
but one in which technology is the primary
from its well-defined, successful brands,
catalyst and engine for change.
and nimbly provide a unified customer
Responsibility for technology across
experience that allows it to meet its
all of Sainsbury’s’ brands lies with Group
competitors head on, many of whom
CIO, Phil Jordan, a man who has overseen 5
massive transformations at the likes of
“I’ve always been fascinated by Retail.
Telefónica and Vodafone. Jordan is the
I think it’s the most exciting sector, where
driving force behind Sainsbury’s Tech,
brilliant technology in the hands of bril-
a brand-new technology division deliv-
liant people can really differentiate.”
ering integrated tech solutions across
From Sainsbury’s Holborn headquarters
all Sainsbury’s brands and channels. “I’ve
in the heart of London, Jordan explains,
brought a different industry and global
“I hadn’t really thought about joining
perspective,” Jordan says of his time
a supermarket when I was in telecoms,
working in telecoms through Europe and
but the more I met the people, the more
Latin America, “…and with that perspec-
I understood the journey of the business
tive, a more data and digitally-driven
and its scale, and the potential power of
vision of ‘retail tech’.”
our multiple brands and multiple chan-
When the chance to work for a mighty British brand came up, Jordan was intrigued. 6
SAINSBURY’S TECH
nels, the more interested I became. Sainsbury’s has an incredible heritage,
150 years old this year with a rich history
customers whereas I think the big tele-
of innovation in food quality, products
coms companies struggle at times,”
and ethical and effective supply chains.
he says. “They are typically B2B, B2C,
Sainsbury’s continues to be a tech inno-
wholesale businesses and the defi-
vator from the first self-service stores,
nition of customer becomes a little
first manned and then automated check-
generic and abstract. There is noth-
out and then more recently the first to do
ing abstract about 26 million custom-
mobile scan-and-pay in the UK.”
ers a week choosing Sainsbury’s or our
As to the comparison between his past and present industries, Jordan reflects: “There are some obvious differences in margin, scale and international footprint but there are equally some interesting parallels. Telecoms companies have had to face the fact that building and owning a network creates a real barrier to entry but increasingly doesn’t differentiate. It is great customer data, that drives insight and personalised services that run on those networks, that makes the difference. This is not that different to the shops for a retailer where differentiation is increasingly about the speed, convenience and personalised experi-
“ I’ve always been fascinated by Retail. I think it’s the most exciting sector, where brilliant technology in the hands of brilliant people can really differentiate” — P H I L J O R DA N GROUP CIO SAINSBURY’S
ence of shopping with us that customers want, wherever and whenever they choose to shop with us: online or in one or our stores,” he explains. Another of the most significant contrasts between Jordan’s previous employers and Sainsbury’s is the ‘view of the customer’. “Sainsbury’s has an obsession for 7
role to influence and facilitate the way people shop, directly affecting lives and supporting the communities we serve.” Indeed, it is the customer who lies at the heart of Sainsbury’s Tech, the new division headed up by Jordan to provide the multi-brand, multichannel capability that delivers a seamless journey through its different brands. “I think one of the things we realised quite quickly is that we want to build technology that is multi-brand and also democratises the data in our business so we can always see a customer in 360 degrees irrespective of brand or channel. The fastest way 8
SAINSBURY’S TECH
to get there was to move our technol-
transformed to be digital, you’re not
ogists from the brands and form them
going to survive much longer. Retail
into a new progressive tech organisa-
Businesses that weren’t fast enough
tion that could build the capability that
to develop a great Digital Experience
delivers our vision. This is Sainsbury’s
in and out of physical stores are
Tech.” Jordan explains, “Everything we
going under at a rate of knots. Now
do is anchored around ‘What would our
it’s about data capability built on those
customers think of this?’”
automated and real time processes of
Jordan’s focus now is to “take great
a digital business and how quickly you
brands that operate brilliantly in a loosely
can turn insight into action. How quickly
coupled eco-system and form a world-
you can adapt the customer experi-
class, multi-brand, multi-channel shopping
ence based on personalisation. That’s
experience”. “What we really want is
why we’ve put so much emphasis on
for customers to fulfil all their shopping
data in this business and encouraging
missions with Sainsbury’s in a seam-
our colleagues to be actively analytical
less, personalised way that uses our
in all aspects of their roles.” And Jordan
understanding about what they want,
is swift to dismiss any suggestion that
where they like to shop and what’s
Sainsbury’s isn’t ready for this trans-
important to them,” he explains. “We
formation, “If you are still prospering
have a passion for making our custom-
as a business after 150 years, 37 prime
ers’ lives easier, to make Sainsbury’s
ministers, six kings and queens, you
a place where people love to shop, and
must have innovation in your DNA and
this is why we are bringing the technol-
a culture of experimental curiosity.”
ogy functions, systems and data together
Jordan points to data as the answer to
as Sainsbury’s Tech and building the
understanding customers when creating
systems and data capability that powers
a compelling and attractive proposition.
the UK’s no.1 multi-brand, multi-channel
“How do you use the data to understand
digital retail ecosystem.”
the customers and to make yourselves
It is clear Jordan and the Sainsbury’s
compelling when it’s no longer simply
Board see Sainsbury’s Tech as critical
a question of selling a network or open-
to engineering the transformation of
ing a shop near to someone?” he asks.
Sainsbury’s. “If you haven’t already
“When you look at the way people shop, 9
© 2019 Accenture. All rights reserved.
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Accenture: an agile partner Accenture has been a key partner in the Argos and Sainsbury’s Tech journey. We spoke to Doug Blyth, Retail Technology Lead, about the company’s partnership with the retail giant. Tell me a little about
How did Argos go about
requirements and simplify the
Accenture’s work with Argos
delivering this sustained
handover to support. It’s help-
prior to the recent work with
transformation?
ing to reduce overheads and
Sainsbury’s Tech.
In 2015, we started conversa-
decrease delivery times as the
Back in 2012, Argos was facing
tions about how to sustain this
teams deploy new microser-
major disruption in the market-
transformation in the long term.
vice-based architectures.
place and embarked on a bold
The outcome was a commit-
digital transformation strategy.
ment to a new delivery ap-
process to be part of and it’s
The goal was to turn their stores
proach. We worked with Argos
still ongoing. It made Argos one
into ultra-convenient digital
to set up a digital hub in London
of the leading examples of a
stores where a large range
and hire experts to help build in
large business with a complex
could be collected instore or
house agile teams, and reorgan-
IT estate that has successfully
delivered the same day, and
ise IT into small product teams,
transitioned to an agile product
Accenture was chosen as their
or function teams, as they called
team model across the board.
transformation partner.
them, with a mix of Argos and
This has been an exciting
Accenture people working as
So what does this all
series of changes based on the
one team. This shift has pro-
mean with the launch
‘hub and spoke’ model, where
duced a more focused and agile
of Sainsbury’s Tech?
larger stores were able to
IT structure that is focused
The move to Sainsbury’s Tech
channel stock to smaller ones.
on driving ongoing business
will create a new customer
First this enabled customers to
change through technology.
focused tech organisation that
Together, we delivered a
order online and pick up in store
On top of this agile method-
aligns teams and infrastruc-
in under four hours. Then it was
ology, we worked with Argos
ture around shared capabilities
expanded to same-day delivery,
to layer a DevOps approach.
rather than the Sainsbury’s,
which is now available in more
Rather than operating as a
Argos, Nectar and Bank brands.
than 90% of UK postcodes. And
separate break-fix organisation,
We have just agreed a renewed
now fast-track collection means
we seed some of our applica-
partnership arrangement to
customers can be in and out of
tion management team into the
drive further value across Sains-
stores in as little as 90 seconds.
function teams. This seamless
bury’s Tech and look forward to
This created an instore digital
connection between engineer-
helping them achieve this pro-
experience and enhanced the
ing and support helps prioritise
gressive vision.
online experience.
the backlog of fixes and new
and the different missions they have, whether they’re shopping for food or
you for your loyalty.” “I believe we have the most exciting
for general merchandise, there are many
dataset in the country,” Jordan enthuses.
life events that join it together. We
Through the lens of Nectar, and our digi-
know pet owners, so why can’t we be
tal channels we know a lot about our own
useful in helping you shop for pet food,
customers’ loyalty, shopping behaviour,
pet accessories or pet insurance? All
preference, taste, buying patterns, and
these examples are out there to help
when you consider the scale of our
people live their lives better. Wouldn’t
customer base, it’s a really interesting
it be useful if somebody could help you
view of the way the British public lives.
join some of these separate missions
We want to put all the data to work in
together, help you shop what you need
making it useful for customers in living
at the right value and in doing so, reward
their lives, whether that’s joining our
12
SAINSBURY’S TECH
“ I genuinely think, if you’re a technologist, retail is an unbelievable place to practise your trade. It’s where technology really is touched by everybody in the country” — P H I L J O R DA N GROUP CIO SAINSBURY’S
Helen Hunter, Chief Data Officer
shopping missions or starting to anticipate need, so we can make offers when they’re useful. There’s value for customers in that, and there’s obviously value for us as well. This only happens as we democratise it across our business and therefore applying data science techniques to it is critical. We are actively exploiting all types of data science, whether that’s algorithms and feature engineering, machine learning, or other approaches: this is Sainsbury’s Tech.” Turning data into insight is not only 13
We get people like shopping smarter
WRITTEN BY Katy Liddell
Every aspect of our lives is
eyes firmly on the future, un-
sizes and colours.
enhanced through technology.
afraid to embrace new trends
We’ve evolved from newspa-
And retail is no exception. The
or experiment with modern
per inserts with specials, and
way that people shop across the
technology, particularly in the
customer call lines that solve
globe is changing, regardless
retail space. And it’s always
issues to chatbot apps and
of the product. You can now
about balancing how the
predictive advertising – that’s
purchase a ticket to the Earth’s
technology works and how it
the new normal. Undoubtedly,
atmosphere and complete a
affects people’s experience.
every business in the UK is
mortgage application entirely
For Sainsbury’s, that meant
undergoing a step-change,
online. With every market be-
helping to power Smartshop,
some embracing the technol-
coming increasingly saturated,
which combines the in-store
ogy, others merely catching
how do retailers stand out from
experience with the ease of
up. The future is one where
one another? Is it the price? The
mobile shopping. Customers at
understanding your new
specials? The selection?
its Holborn Circus Convenience
generation of customers is
store, Sainsbury’s trialled the
pivotal. Experiential in-store
changed over the years is that
UK’s first till-free grocery store.
experiences, real multichannel
we, as a society, are driven by
Its Smartshop Scan, Pay and
shopping and of course, great
emotions. Experience is what
Go technology enables custom-
value are the main areas that
matters most, and what lasts
ers to shop and pay for their
will help your business engage
long after the purchase has
groceries using just their smart-
with their demographic.
been completed. We remember
phones, transforming the in-
an effortless transaction or a
store experience for customers
With time comes a new gener-
frustrating online experience
and colleagues.For a large de-
ation. And, once we’ve cracked
and definitely share these with
partment store, it meant high-
how to serve Gen, Z the next
our networks using review
speed in-store Wifi so custom-
wave of shoppers is here to
sites or social media. With so
ers can access the store’s app,
take their place. A generation
much choice in 2019, what
scanning a product’s barcode
born into technology. What
separates retail stores comes
or searching by description for
works for today’s customers,
down to how your time there
whatever they’re after. Once
probably won’t for tomorrow’s
makes you feel. That’s what
they’d found a product, custom-
– which means there’s no time
drives customer loyalty.
ers can view a full summary and
to rest.
check in-store availability for all
The future is now.
One thing that hasn’t
O2 has always kept two
However, this isn’t the end.
for customers of Sainsbury’s Tech; it also builds on one of the first things that attracted Jordan to the retail industry: the opportunity to differentiate, “by putting brilliant technology into the hands of brilliant people”. A UNIFIED CAPABILITY & TEAM “Sainsbury’s Tech is all about giving customers great experiences, leveraging data like a start-up but at a scale they can’t offer while fostering a culture of experimental curiosity,” says Jordan. Sainsbury’s Tech faces an obvious initial cultural challenge in amalgamating two divisions from Sainsbury’s and Argos that have different cultures. “Rather than make anybody feel that we were merging or trying to assimilate one into the other, we thought it was really important that we created something different and new. So, we’ve taken the technology and IT teams out of all our retail brands and formed a capability-based organisation orchestrated around three distinct multi-brand product engineering functions… Digital; “Incorporating every piece of technology our customers can touch, whether that’s an instore self-checkout or the web, an app, or the E-commerce channel. We are putting all that together 16
SAINSBURY’S TECH
Tom Tang, Digital CTO
John Elliot, Retail CTO
to make that as seamless, simplified and elegant for our customers as possible in our eco-system. Our Digital CTO is Tom Tang”. Retail; “Bringing together all the technology capabilities used by our colleagues and partners in executing processes and decisions in the commercial, supply chain, logistics and retail functions of our businesses. Our Retail CTO is John Elliot.” Corporate; “Focusing on all the technology capability required for our corporate functions that power an increasingly 17
FIND OUT MORE
W W W.TC S . C O M
Shekar Krishnan, Head of Retail Business Unit, TCS UKI ‘think area’, where we support
completely align our structures.
partnership with Sainsbury’s.
Sainsbury’s in its digital trans-
This will help us jointly realise
Over the preceding years, TCS’s
formation leveraging the Busi-
the potential of the new Sains-
presence within Sainsbury’s
ness 4.0
bury’s Tech delivery model.”
grew significantly across the
both our business teams talk
organisation, seeing the com-
to each other, the partnership
point, TCS is very much aligned
pany deliver a number of larger
is not restricted to IT.”
with Sainsbury’s and focused
In 2007, TCS entered into a
supply chain and merchandising
TM
levers. Additionally,
Following the acquisition of
From an organisational stand-
on helping the company achieve
initiatives for the UK retailer. In
Argos, integrating Argos, Sains-
a leadership position in the UK
2015, TCS entered into a strate-
bury’s Bank and Nectar, Sains-
Retail market. One important
gic partnership with Sainsbury’s
bury’s formed Sainsbury’s Tech,
objective is to remove siloed
to run its IT operations, encom-
a brand-new technology divi-
working. “We are looking at an
passing application, infrastruc-
sion delivering integrated tech
end-to-end integrated view that
ture and service desk responsi-
solutions across all Sainsbury’s
brings significant optimisation
bilities. “Whatever is stocked in
brands and channels. Naturally,
and cost savings and allows us
the retail stores, whatever gets
this has seen the relationship
to implement changes much
transported through the supply
with TCS evolve further. “We
faster,” says Shekar. “The retail
chain, and whatever is published
are working closely with Sains-
market is undergoing a sig-
online; the TCS teams enable
bury’s in defining the delivery
nificant transformation. Many
that,” explains Shekar Krishnan,
model,” explains Shekar. “When
retailers are investing heavily
Head of Retail Business Unit,
we took over the application and
in transforming themselves
TCS UKI.
infrastructure operations back
to become more digital, more
in 2015, we proposed a bimodal
customer-focused, and more
tegic partner to Sainsbury’s?
approach by which we run the
automated and Sainsbury’s Tech
For Shekar, it’s a relationship
entire operations in a traditional
represents this.”
built on three core founda-
waterfall model and the develop-
tions, the trust between the
ment/transformation in an agile
bury’s, TCS will continue to value
two organisations, the stra-
model. As Sainsbury’s looked to
the success of Sainsbury’ very
tegic nature of the work that
restructure their organisations
highly. “It’s going to be extreme-
TCS does for Sainsbury’s and
for better collaboration and fast-
ly important to us, not only at
the multi-level connect be-
er business outcomes, we part-
the IT delivery-level but at the
tween the two organisation.
nered and shared the industry
business-level too,” says Shekar.
“We have built significant
best practices.” With Sainsbury’s
“This will further strengthen the
levels of trust through the
Tech, TCS has a team on the
great relationship our organisa-
connection we have between
ground that is working close-
tions have.
the two leadership teams,” he
ly with the Sainsbury’s team.
explains. “TCS works in the
“What we are trying to do is
But what makes TCS a stra-
As a core partner to Sains-
single and integrated business with the foundations and enablers of IT such as infrastructure and platform engineering. The Corporate CTO is Richard Newsome.” Sainsbury’s Tech has also combined other key activities that span the brands; Service Operations; “We have put all our service operations together to leverage best practice, drive synergy and to ensure that we always show up consistently for customers. Martin Taylor is the Director of Service Operations.” Technology Business Management; “We have created Technology Business Management as the glue between all elements of Sainsbury’s Tech and to drive the transformation, with a real focus on partners, programs, plans as well as the community and capabilities that are at the heart of our team. Antony Cromb is the Head of Technology Business Management. The vital areas of Data/Analytics and Information Security were previously transformed into multi-brand functions and form part of the Sainsbury’s Tech leadership team. These two areas are led respectively by; Data and Analytics; Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO), Helen Hunter Information Security; Chief InfoSec Officer (CISO), Munawar Valiji. 20
SAINSBURY’S TECH
“ So, we’ve taken the technology and IT teams out of all our retail brands and formed a capabilitybased organisation orchestrated around distinct multi-brand product engineering functions…” — P H I L J O R DA N GROUP CIO SAINSBURY’S
21
Make your store thrive
No matter your size, where you operate, or what kinds of customers you serve, we’re here to help you create more meaningful interactions between you and your customers. Is your technology creating the best experience for your customers and your business? With NCR, you’ll always know the answer is “yes.” • #1 global provider of retail POS software • #1 in global self-checkout market share • Insights from servicing more than 6 million edge devices
To learn more, visit us at ncr.com/retail.
NCR and Sainsbury’s Tech: an agile partnership The customer is at the heart of Sainsbury’s Tech, a brand-new technology division launched by the retail giant to provide a seamless, unified journey through its different brands. NCR is working closely alongside Sainsbury’s Tech to support and develop this ambitious new initiative… In terms of enhancing the customer
jewels in our crown,” says Kneen.
months of development work with
experience at enterprises as large
“And with Sainsbury’s, we’re leading
them to put some of its more funda-
as Sainsbury’s, there is perhaps
the way in terms of the complexity
mental products into the cloud.
no bigger partner than NCR, the
and the completeness of that ser-
NCR is very agile in its work
135-year-old Retail IT giant. A pro-
vice offering, and in terms of our
with a dedicated scrum team and
vider of front-of-store technology
knowledge of their environment.
a service support team that work
capabilities, such as EPOS terminals
Sainsbury’s Tech are investing in
with real time data to identify pinch
and self-checkout systems, as well
store technology as a differentiator.
points and areas of improvement
as bespoke programmes and service
Examples of that would be their
that feeds directly back into devel-
support, NCR (formerly National
investment in mobile shopping
opment. Working closely with Sains-
Cash Register) is a long-standing,
and their SmartShop app, which
bury’s Tech, NCR has significantly
platinum-trusted partner of Sains-
again, we’re fundamentally helping
reduced the time to market with
bury’s for managed service delivery
to support and deploy, as well as a
a new collaborative approach to
and store IT systems for more than
whole load of 2-D, or QR, scanning
testing. “That is the agile, innovative
16 years. “We’re in this business
capability to support the New world
approach we’re now taking, which
for the long haul,” explains Mark
of Nectar initiative. NCR is also now
I think is probably best-of-breed
Kneen, NCR’s Account Director for
supporting the whole of the Argos
in our industry,” Limbert explains.
Sainsbury’s. “And that puts us at
estate, equating to over 900 more
“Sainsbury’s is at its most innovative
the heart of their store operations
stores including over 280 within a
at the moment, and really trying to
because we’re supporting over
Sainsbury’s store, helping to bring
push the boundaries of what they
28,000 customer touch points,
together Sainsbury’s and Argos from
want to do, technically. They recog-
points-of-sale, and self-checkouts
a support service point of view.”
nise the value of trusted teamwork
across their 1,400-store estate,
Another important area of work
and we’re with them, every step of
comprising supermarkets and
for NCR is its programme develop-
the way as part of this joined-up
convenience stores.”
ment and delivery for Sainsbury’s
ecosystem.” Kneen echoes Lim-
Tech. Kevin Limbert, UK Head of
bert’s enthusiasm: “It’s genuinely
ing together to drive technology
Programmes, leads the NCR devel-
very exciting to be working with
across their stores, to provide faster,
opment team, working closely with
Sainsbury’s Tech at the moment. It’s
frictionless service to customers
Sainsbury’s Tech. “We brought the
a hold-on-tight type of excitement
by improving the whole point-of-
teams within NCR together as one
due to the speed at which they want
sale and self-checkout experience
team dedicated to Sainsbury’s.”
to introduce new things. NCR is
and NCR is integral in that regard.
Sainsbury’s has a very clear, publicly
proud to be a trusted partner and
“We’re very proud of the managed
stated vision of being a tech-led
collaborator with Sainsbury’s Tech
services we deliver. It’s one of the
retailer and NCR has just finished two
throughout its journey.”
Sainsbury’s and NCR are work-
MEET THE SAINSBURY’S TECH
delivering depth of the experience
LE ADE RS HI P TEA M
end-to-end, to a breadth of experience,
Tom Tang, Digital CTO
that’s more customer focused and
“Digital is customer facing and customer
front facing: more centred on our think-
focused. If you look at our websites:
ing in the round about the Sainsbury’s
Argos, Tu Clothing or Groceries Online;
customer whether they’re shopping
the mobile stores, or you look at the
at Argos, Habitat, Sainsbury’s or
in-store tills, these things are by far the
Sainsbury’s Bank. Our goal is to move
most customer-facing and impactful. In
from very brand specific customer jour-
a nutshell, delivery of digital customer
neys to a more rounded customer journey
experiences is now within the digital
and experience across Sainsbury’s as
technology remit.
a multi-brand, multi-channel retailer.”
Supporting Clodagh Moriarty, our Group Chief Digital Officer, we are
John Elliot, Retail CTO
putting all our energy into a shift from
“Sainsbury’s Tech is about us delivering
Phil Jordan, Group CIO
24
SAINSBURY’S TECH
the technology and the data that really helps us serve our customers in the best possible way. Customers increasingly want to shop with us whenever and however they need to. Technology really needs to be present and adaptive to our customer needs. Everyone in the Retail Tech CTO domain is focused on the magic of designing, ranging, sourcing, buying, distributing, delivering and presenting the volume of product we offer. For me, what’s really exciting is seeing how technology can help revolutionise this 25
we serve, with digital and data capabilities.” Richard Newsome, Corporate CTO “I’m accountable for the delivery of technical solutions through to a number of parts of the business that are absolutely at the centre of the way we’re structured going forward. For example, HR, finance, marketing, customer management centres, property and facilities. I think the real excitement about Sainsbury’s Tech, both for the business and for the colleagues who work for us, is to provide opportunities to deploy their technical skills across problems, which cross every one of our channels and brands. Whether that be putting technology in the hands of our customers, whether it’s putting great technology in the hands of our colleagues, whether it’s exploiting our fantastic data assets. Sainsbury’s Tech is a place where every colleague has the opportunity to make a purposeful contribution. If you take the rate of change in the technology sector and the rate of change in retail and put those two things together, you pretty well get constant change. The challenge for us is to make sure that we’re not just responding to that rate of change but are actually in the vanguard of enabling the company to move even more quickly towards a very digital multi-channel, multi-brand future.” Martin Taylor, Director of Service Operations “It’s technology that is driving successful retailers. Our customers are enjoying services from us, whether they’re shopping in the store, or ordering online and 28
SAINSBURY’S TECH
Richard Newsome, Corporate CTO
industry and make a contribution to the communities
29
“In short, partners have a huge role to play in our continued success. And those that are prepared to commit to and invest in the relationship and the Sainsbury’s business, will find us willing to do likewise for them” — P H I L J O R DA N GROUP CIO SAINSBURY’S then collecting in store, or receiving
tremendously talented colleagues, with
a delivery at home. Our tech impacts
pockets of real genius, are constrained if
people’s homes and lives, so we are
they’re hard-wired to the brands. Prior
passionate about providing both the colleague and the customer the tools to fulfil their needs in the simplest and most convenient way. Service Operations is exciting because it’s always on: 365 days a year, 24/7, and this underpins everything from our online services to our logistics systems that enable the lorries to go and replenish stores. We pride ourselves on anticipating, understanding and resolving anything that could disrupt our customer experience.” Antony Cromb, Head of Technology Business Management “As we seek to develop world class, multi-brand capabilities, we know 30
SAINSBURY’S TECH
Antony Cromb, Head of Technology Business Management
to Sainsbury’s Tech, the brilliant solu-
Technical Programme Management
tions we delivered for customers were
of our most complex, multi-team
achieved despite, not because of, the
enabled outcomes.”
way we were organised. Sainsbury’s Tech allows us to flexibly appoint our
Helen Hunter, Chief Data Officer
best people on the business’ top priori-
“Think for a second about the amount
ties and develop our people.
of data our business throws off, having
My team sits at the centre of Sainsbury’s
the UK’s largest loyalty scheme, a really
Tech, taking a view across the division, driving the transformation to create a brilliant tech team to help Sainsbury’s win. I’m accountable for division-wide supplier and software asset management; and the tech people agenda at large; planning and portfolio management; and the
Martin Taylor, Director of Service Operations Helen Hunter, Chief Data Officer
31
Born from Retail Built for Retailers
Fi
nd
ou
tm
or
e
Sharing our experiences with retailers and partners for the most important customer journey – the one you lead.
Customer journeys are more than
proactive engagement. When
and after purchase. However,
a marketing term. They are the
this happens over 70% of retailers
88% of retailers don’t believe
constant, fluid moments - before,
report that the new value gained
they personalize effectively,
during, and after a purchase - upon
through cloud migration goes
most forecasts have insufficient
which your customer relationships
directly to innovation projects.
inputs, and most CXO’s don’t
are built. With customers making
Retailers also collect data from
know where to begin in the
an increasing number of choices
a multitude of systems when
store. They rate AI/ML their #1
before, during, and after the pur-
engaging customers and must
opportunity, but the complexity
chase, every experience must be
quickly bring relevant data to-
to build and deploy leaves it the
earned for retailers to keep their
gether to form a complete picture
#8 spending priority.
customer’s journey progressing to
of their customer’s journey. With
them. This means every choice
that visibility, informed decisions
ers need the right partner to
must be guided, which is only pos-
can be made and more advanced
empower them and offer the
sible by moving from reactive to
solutions - relying on that data
kind of unique experience nec-
proactive retailers. In other words,
for conversion - can be deployed.
essary to address not only the
leading their customer’s journey.
However, even when moderniz-
unprecedented challenges of
However, an industry that has
ing and existing systems through
today, but the new opportuni-
traditionally focused on connecting
reinvention improves the source
ties coming tomorrow.
channels one experience at a time,
of data, over half of retailers
now finds itself struggling to find
report that they still can’t share
only cloud born from retail and
the speed, scale, and performance
data between systems and 88%
built for retailers. We share
to embrace this challenge.
are challenged in making action-
Amazon’s own tested, proven
able decisions. Fragmentation
innovation to help retailers re-
breed” solutions – solving for
and a lack of real-time insight
invent their legacy applications
individual channels with disparate
– especially at the edge – are
for new value, complete their
technology – have left many re-
significant problems.
view of customers for relevant
Years accumulating “best of
tailers paralyzed by the complexi-
Finally, sales velocity is a top
All of this means that retail-
That’s why AWS offers the
insight, and transform their
ty and cost of following customer
metric for most retailers, but
engagement for increased sales
migration from store only, to
journeys put conversion oppor-
velocity. From recommendation
online, to connected experienc-
tunities and rates at higher risk,
engines, forecasting and contact
es, and now complete journeys.
as consumers expect relevant
centers, to advanced computer
72% of CxO’s report an inability
personalization; right place/
vision and store transforma-
to migrate to new technologies.
right time inventory; and stores
tion, AWS offers retailers the
Simply engaging in customer jour-
offering both immersion and
same expertise we use our-
neys requires existing systems be
same-day pickup. Retailers
selves – a head start 20 years
modern, connected and built on
must now proactively engage
in the making for retailers to
an agile architecture supporting
at every step - before, during,
lead their customer’s journey.
significant online operation, the 5th largest clothing business in the UK, a bank, hundreds of stores, thousands of colleagues, and millions of customers. My job is to catch and collate this data and turn it into information which is accessible for colleagues across the business; and then to explore creative ways to make that data serve our business differently; ultimately improving what we do for our customers. Sainsbury’s is an actively analytical culture. We’re constantly asking ourselves: how can we put our data to work to help us address the biggest opportunities we’ve got in the business? How can we use data to change the way we make decisions?” And on being part of Sainsbury’s Tech rather than the functions you might usually find in an analytics and reporting team, Hunter says, “One of the most exciting things about being a data professional in these times is the fundamental disruption driven by cloud; the separation
Munawar Valiji, Chief Information Security Officer
of storage and compute and what this means for our ability to manipulate data
careers and really flourish in the high
at scale. Being part of Sainsbury’s Tech is
challenge, high support environment
fabulous, because it means our data and
that exists within Sainsbury’s Tech.”
machine learning engineers are part of a much bigger engineering community, and
Munawar Valiji, Chief Information
there’s so much more scope and breadth
Security Officer
for those individuals to build T-shaped
“Turning data into insight is all about
34
SAINSBURY’S TECH
creating an offer that makes our
experts, technologists and data
customers’ lives easier. We can
experts who have a common
only achieve this if we put their
purpose and vision to get the job
privacy and security at the heart of
done. They want to be known for
everything. The Sainsbury’s Tech
making a difference in a time
Infosec team is a fantastic group of
where the industry is going through
professionals; passionate security
phenomenal changes.” 35
PA RT N E R S
is the collaboration and partnering with
Partners play a critical and pivotal
some of these major enterprises that
role in the creation and operation of
has helped steer Sainsbury’s Tech.
Sainsbury’s Tech and the eco-system
“We rely on TCS for the global footprint
it operates within. “What distinguishes
and industrial strength in providing robust
partners from suppliers is,” according
world class infrastructure and applica-
to Jordan, “that partners get to do the
tion operations.
tough stuff with us. By nature, they’re
“Then there’s Accenture who continue
multi-year, wide-ranging and complex
to be at the heart of our application
relationships and have to be built on
management and development plans
a strong foundation. Otherwise you tend
in many parts of the business.
to find it fractures really quickly.” “Partners like Snowflake are support-
“In short, partners have a huge role to play in our continued success. And
ing us as we rebuild our data ecosystem
those that are prepared to commit to
in the cloud to get right at the heart of
and invest in the relationship and the
our strategy: of knowing our customers
Sainsbury’s business, will find us willing
better than everybody else.
to do likewise for them,” Jordan explains.
“Telefónica O2, have been alongside Sainsbury’s for the past two years
T H E B I G G E ST C H A L L E N G E
as it shifted its wide area networks,
Making any changes while you continue
local area networks, WiFi and mobile
to trade intensively is hard and the
through to Telefónica.
transformation from brand to capability
“AWS have been critical in helping
at Sainsbury’s is significant. “The oper-
Sainsbury’s deliver its ‘cloud first’ strat-
ational intensity of serving millions of
egy with “real successes in moving
customers, filling shops every day and
many products and services to the cloud
trading as one of the UKs largest Digital
with fantastic performance, cost and
Retailers in the most competitive retail
resilience impact.
markets in the world whilst driving a
“Partners like NCR are a long-standing
major structural change is a great chal-
collaborator with Sainsbury’s on front-
lenge and one we are excited to take on
of-store technology capabilities, such
as a leadership team,” Jordan explains.
as tills and the SmartShop application. It
Sainsbury’s Tech officially went live
36
SAINSBURY’S TECH
this month although it was operating back in July. “Now, we’re able to say, ‘We’re here! This is Sainsbury’s Tech.’ And more importantly than anything, we can start recruiting and encouraging talent to Sainsbury’s Tech,” Jordan enthuses. “I genuinely think, if you’re a technologist, retail is an unbelievable place to practise your trade. It’s where technology really is touched by everybody in the country and Sainsbury’s Tech is the power that will propel Sainsbury’s into the UK’s no.1 multi-brand retail business. It doesn’t get any better than this!”
37
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