The John Lewis Partnership, the UK’s largest employee-owned firm, has fashioned a strategic partnership with Google Cloud, price £100m over the following 5 years. The transfer represents a serious growth of the profitable relationship it has had with Google since 2012.
This collaboration marks a major step ahead within the John Lewis Partnership’s digital transformation of its manufacturers, John Lewis and Waitrose, and its ambitions to offer prospects with much more tailor-made and personalised experiences.
Underneath the expanded settlement, extra of the organisation’s expertise will migrate to Google Cloud, harnessing the cloud supplier’s newest and most modern applied sciences, together with superior synthetic intelligence (AI) and machine studying (ML). These instruments will allow the John Lewis Partnership workforce, often known as Companions, to be extra environment friendly, spend extra time specializing in prospects, and higher use knowledge insights to assist curate nice services.
The funding in Google Cloud is a basic a part of the John Lewis Partnership’s transformation story. The corporate’s technique of making good in-store and on-line experiences has already been profitable in attracting extra prospects this yr. This partnership with Google Cloud will take its retail expertise to the following stage – each in-store, and by way of its digital platforms, together with JohnLewis.com, Waitrose.com, and its owned cell apps. Furthermore, the settlement will assist the John Lewis Partnership’s ambition to get nearer to its prospects by making a pan-Partnership loyalty programme in 2024.
Nish Kankiwala, CEO on the John Lewis Partnership, stated: “Investing in leading edge expertise is not only a selection, it’s a necessity for a contemporary retailer like us. Core to our technique is constructing our expertise infrastructure for the long run, drawing on newest improvements to profit our prospects.”
Zak Mian, chief transformation and expertise officer on the John Lewis Partnership, added: “On the John Lewis Partnership we’ve at all times been centered at discovering higher methods to do enterprise. In the present day’s announcement marks a major step in reworking our expertise, and ensures that our Companions have the most effective instruments to offer our prospects with much more personalised experiences, throughout all our channels.
“Think about a world the place a buyer can use a picture scanning function of their John Lewis App to point out our House Design Stylists a room they’re trying to furnish, which tells us all we have to know in regards to the intricacies of the house, format and measurements. Not solely does it save prospects a number of time and trouble, however even earlier than the appointment we are able to take inspiration from their distinctive preferences and provides tailor-made suggestions that may even complement merchandise they have already got. We’re wanting ahead to an period of recent innovation.”
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, stated: “As an modern British retailer with a powerful dedication to customer support, the John Lewis Partnership is at all times searching for new methods to reinvent the way it does enterprise.
“By turning to Google Cloud’s main AI and ML instruments, John Lewis will assist rework the Accomplice expertise, which in flip will ship a greater and extra seamless expertise for its prospects.”
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