How One of the Largest Global Retailers Achieved Agile Engineering at Scale
Digital transformation requires building the right teams and the right services. See how Publicis Sapient led the charge for change.
Engineering transformation is a constantly evolving process. As a premier strategic technology partner, Publicis Sapient transformed one of the world’s largest retail organizations for the digital age, expanding engineering capabilities and establishing the brand as a leading algorithmic retailer.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
In 2015, the retailer’s goal was to double down on engineering capabilities as they continued to scale digital transformation efforts, with ambition to reshape how the business approached developing new products and services for consumers. Publicis Sapient tapped into years of deep technological expertise to redefine engineering operations, leveraging agile methods to build lean, focused teams dedicated to delivering high-value outcomes with speed and efficiency.
The Transformative Solution
With a new way of working, Publicis Sapient was able to continue to scale and optimize transformation projects – introducing new capabilities that allowed the retailer to put shoppers first while reducing operational cost. Notable innovations include:
Shift to microservices: Built, re-structured and transitioned global legacy online grocery and general merchandise platforms to an enterprise API and microservices-based system.
Global content management system: Created a custom global CMS to manage millions of SKUs, promotions, transaction data and cross-channel content delivery.
Custom general merchandise e-commerce solution: Implemented a bespoke e-commerce platform for non-food businesses, creating a dedicated marketplace and reducing reliance on third-party e-commerce partners.
Algorithmic retailing: Leveraged best-in-class emerging technologies, machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimize grocery operations, including batch/van scheduling, in-store picking, warehouse & order management, enterprise-pricing APIs, promotions, demand planning, partner/supplier relationships and mobile application upgrades.
The Business Impact
An engineering focus gave the retailer ability to scale efficiently and rapidly respond to change. During the COVID-19 outbreak, faster go-to-market capabilities allowed the retailer to quickly mobilize online delivery, scaling to accommodate 1M+ online orders and 1.2M+ delivery slots in as short as a week.
With more than a decade of partnership, Publics Sapient continues to work with the retailer to further engineering transformation initiatives.
How one large global retailer created a seamless online presence for their apparel line.
How we took a holistic approach to future-proofing one retail brand.
Digitally transforming a global grocery business through innovation and a long-term view.
