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Top Global Retailer

How One of the World's Top Retailers Built an International Grocery Enterprise

In partnership with Publicis Sapient, one retailer innovated its e-commerce and supply chain operations to establish itself as a leading global grocer.

For over a decade, one of the largest grocery retailers in the world has trusted Publicis Sapient to lead digital transformation of its grocery business — building on over 100 years of legacy to expand the organization’s international footprint and create elevated shopping experiences fit for today’s digital consumer.

The Imperative for Change

The retailer’s journey began in 2010, with the desire to expand online grocery to markets outside the United Kingdom–which, at the time, relied primarily on physical retail to drive revenue. The retailer needed to optimize supply chain, partner communications and picking operations to meet increased volumes of online ordering and delivery, while integrating digital services into physical stores to connect customer experiences.

The Transformative Solution

The retailer’s grocery business transformation is built on years of innovation enabled by increasing digital maturity. Publicis Sapient led the charge, working with the retailer to identify areas ripe for opportunity and expansion. Notable projects include:

International grocery: Developed a scalable international grocery e-commerce solution and integrated with in-store capabilities. Rollout was completed in 14 months, expanding online reach to new markets.

Picking optimization: Redesigned the retailer’s order management system and integrated it with backed warehouse systems, allowing for faster order picking, expanded delivery slots and better pickup experiences.

Algorithmic van/batch scheduling: Leveraged best-in-class machine learning to improve batch/van scheduling, improving communication and delivery efficiency.

Rapid COVID-19 response: Doubled number of online orders and delivery slots in less than a week, introduced grocery-in-a-box offerings and rapidly hired 16,000+ new picking and delivery employees to meet surges in online grocery demand. Optimized in-store experiences with pop-up shops and resources for at-need consumers and essential workers in the UK.

The Business Impact

Transformation efforts have yielded impressive results for the retailer’s grocery business, allowing the organization to continue to grow and adapt to changing consumer demand.

42M
transactions/week
1M
orders/day
$500M
USD annual revenue from international grocery e-commerce
$400-$500M USD
annual revenue from re-engineered UK grocery solution
35%
improvement in e-commerce order picking rate
Guy Elliott
Guy Elliott
Executive Vice President