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.

Timeline

2010 - 2012 The Journey Begins
Publicis Sapient partners with one of the top-five retailers in the world to scale their online grocery platform in the United Kingdom and move their non-food retail business off Amazon to establish an independent channel.
2012 - 2013 Online Grocery Goes Global
With early success, Publicis Sapient helps expand the retailer’s online grocery capabilities into broader international markets. Improvements to supply chain are also implemented, allowing scale to handle larger orders and peak volume.
2013 A Whole New Look
Publicis Sapient delivers digital transformation of the retailer’s apparel business. Innovation includes new brand positioning, a full-scale digital platform strategy to elevate e-commerce and a reimagined loyalty program.
2014 - 2016 Transformational Shift to Agile Teams
With an innovation mind, the retailer works with Publicis Sapient to adopt an engineering-first organizational mindset, with focus on a more agile way of working and lean engineering teams capable of delivering high-quality results with speed.
2016 - 2018 Re-Engineering for Digital Commerce
The retailer advances their digital capabilities, moving to a service-based model architecture, developing a global content management system, and moving non food business to a bespoke e-commerce solution.
2017 - 2020 Always Innovating
With a strong foundation for growth, the retailer continues to optimize and scale grocery and supply chain experiences with services like improved scan-as-you-go mobile features, delivery van scheduling and in-store picking optimization.

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 Executive Vice President

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Timeline (Repeat)

2010 - 2012 The Journey Begins
Publicis Sapient partners with one of the top-five retailers in the world to scale their online grocery platform in the United Kingdom and move their non-food retail business off Amazon to establish an independent channel.
2012 - 2013 Online Grocery Goes Global
With early success, Publicis Sapient helps expand the retailer’s online grocery capabilities into broader international markets. Improvements to supply chain are also implemented, allowing scale to handle larger orders and peak volume.
2013 A Whole New Look
Publicis Sapient delivers digital transformation of the retailer’s apparel business. Innovation includes new brand positioning, a full-scale digital platform strategy to elevate e-commerce and a reimagined loyalty program.
2014 - 2016 Transformational Shift to Agile Teams
With an innovation mind, the retailer works with Publicis Sapient to adopt an engineering-first organizational mindset, with focus on a more agile way of working and lean engineering teams capable of delivering high-quality results with speed.
2016 - 2018 Re-Engineering for Digital Commerce
The retailer advances their digital capabilities, moving to a service-based model architecture, developing a global content management system, and moving non food business to a bespoke e-commerce solution.
2017 - 2020 Always Innovating
With a strong foundation for growth, the retailer continues to optimize and scale grocery and supply chain experiences with services like improved scan-as-you-go mobile features, delivery van scheduling and in-store picking optimization.

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

Publicis Sapient Top Global Retailer

Client

Services

Industry

Timeline

The Imperative for Change

The Transformative Solution

The Business Impact

Timeline (Repeat)