Sainsbury's Tech – brochure 2019

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

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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.

NEW ISN’T ON ITS WAY. WE’RE APPLYING IT NOW. See how we’re applying deep retail skills and new IT to real business challenges at accenture.com/technology

NEW APPLIED NOW

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

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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.

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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

S A I N S B U R Y S . J O B S / R O L E S / D I G I TA L - T E C H - D ATA /