Eight out of 10 customers would raise their spending with a business in exchange for better experiences, as per the findings in research from Capgemini. CX remains the backbone of the retail sector; maintaining a standard requires constant upgradation in tech stacks, long-term strategy and execution.  

Tesco, one of the prominent retail players in the world, has multiple development centres across the globe. Tesco Technology is playing a key role in delivering customer delight through compelling customised offers and seamless shopping experiences. 

More than 50% of its technology teams are based in Bengaluru, covering key functions like Software Engineering, Product Management, Data Science & Analytics, and Infrastructure. These integrated technology teams are at the heart of innovations at scale, leveraging technology while being agile to adapt to a dynamic technology environment. 

What's happening? 

To get more insights, we got in touch with Jayesh Bhayani, Senior Director of Technology at Tesco PLC, who considers India a strategic location from the technology perspective. "This is where the talent is, this is where the scale is, and this is why we are here strategically," said Jayesh. 

Noticeable patterns 

The retail industry is witnessing a significant shift in terms of shopping, customers' preferences, the ways stores are designed, and others. Further, Jayesh pointed out some of the major trends in the retail industry, especially in the post-covid era. 

A frictionless store is one of them, which sits at the cusp of artificial intelligence with multiple sensors and cameras inside a store. According to Jayesh, the in-store cameras detect the movement of the person in an anonymised fashion. "We do not identify the person, giving due respect to privacy, and only monitor the body movements to see the course of actions," he added. 

Secondly, people are now getting used to buying things online and getting them delivered at home - the convenience of shopping online. This demands the power of predictive learning and lets the products be delivered to their doorstep fast. Thirdly, another need is to figure out what customers are looking for and make suggestions. Similarly, the online shopping basket of the customer and the offline availability of the desired products in-store should be complemented.  

AI at play 

Keeping the need of the customer in mind, as per Jayesh, the firm has extensively used the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning to drive sustainable experiences for customers, suppliers, and colleagues. Some of them include: 

• Forecasting stock across the estate of distribution centres and stores to reduce food waste. 
• Optimising trucks and van fills; route optimisation to reduce the travel time and fuel usage and, therefore, reduce the carbon footprint. 
• Increase availability of products for our customers. This comes in various forms, from providing a better range and availability in our stores and our online platforms to providing the best substitution when a particular product is unavailable at the time of online delivery. 
• Provide the best prices to give maximum value for money for our customers. 
• Order scheduling with supplier partners for ease of collaboration and ways of working. 
• Enabling hyper personalisation while searching for products online and product recommendations based on preference and purchase history. 

All this wouldn't have been possible without an effective data strategy. "When we started the transformation, we specifically focused on creating huge data lakes where we collect data from every aspect of our business. So, it's not just the interaction of customers in stores or on websites. But it also collects data all the way from the supply chain," said Jayesh.  

With the availability of the data, the organisation creates a 360-degree view of not just customers' preferences and what customers want and what they're interacting with but also insights into the types of products to give customers healthier versions and healthier alternatives in a very sustainable way. Jayesh says the "picture is much larger" than just trying to identify what customers are looking for. 

He further believes that the idea is to remain focused. The need is to identify the challenges that could solve the core purpose - a better customer experience. However, while keeping data at the centre, privacy is not ignored. As Jayesh said, "We are GDPR compliant, and we only keep data in an anonymised fashion. We don't keep PII data unless it is required to serve the customer, say an address to deliver the products." 

To sum up, retail is already witnessing exponential change. To put it in the words of Jayesh, “the need to keep improving and to cater to the customers' changing needs is critical”.