Waitrose Invests in Blue Yonder’s Industry Leading Demand Forecasting Capability to Further Improve Customer Satisfaction
June 20 2024 - 4:00AM
Business Wire
Waitrose is extending its collaboration with Blue Yonder with
the addition of the supply chain solution provider’s
industry-leading forecasting capability.
The new move will mark the first significant introduction of
artificial intelligence (AI) into Waitrose’s forecasting – and is
designed to improve the already high levels of availability across
the retailer’s stores.
Rather than relying on historical sales data and human
intuition, the AI forecasting capability – part of Blue Yonder
Demand Planning – focuses on customer behaviour and analyses ‘why’
customers bought what they did rather than just ‘what’ they
bought.
The capability understands and learns from the trading
environment to provide a better forecast based on customer
behaviour. For example, it will learn how customers responded to a
variety of influences, including weather variations, major sporting
and cultural events, and promotions.
The upgrade is part of a significant investment in technology
across Waitrose’s supply chain and is designed to improve
availability, which already stands at record levels.
It is also expected to:
- Improve customer satisfaction score by increasing on-shelf
availability and refocusing store Partners from manual ordering to
more strategic customer-oriented tasks.
- Leverage AI capabilities to ingest and analyse massive volumes
of data without overwhelming users.
- Assess risks by weighing different forecasting outcomes.
- Determine stock volumes dynamically to minimise waste.
- Respond to demand fluctuations automatically, quickly and
accurately.
Alison Maffin, Waitrose Supply Chain Director,
said: “Whether we are planning for a major sporting final or the
first cold snap of the winter, there can be multiple factors
affecting what our customers buy. The Blue Yonder solution will
learn from previous experience and help us predict this more
accurately so we can be confident we have the stock our customers
want. This will allow us to produce a much more accurate forecast
for our suppliers and logistics partners, but will also result in
less wastage and better availability for our customers.’’
Gael Ramaen, Corporate Vice President, Retail, EMEA, Blue
Yonder, said: “A better forecast is crucial for retailers, and
we are thrilled and proud to support Waitrose with their goals of
enhancing customer experience and meeting sustainability goals.
This builds on the already successful deployment of Blue Yonder
Fulfilment and Warehouse Management solutions used within their
organisation.”
Additional Resources:
- Learn more about Blue Yonder Demand Planning
- Solution Sheet:
- Blue Yonder Demand Planning for Retail
- Videos:
- A Smarter More Dynamic Approach to Retail-Forecasting
- Benefits of Demand Forecasting Accuracy: The Blue Yonder
Difference
About the John Lewis Partnership
The John Lewis Partnership owns and operates two of Britain's
best-loved retail brands - John Lewis and Waitrose. Started as a
radical experiment over a century ago, the Partnership is now the
largest employee-owned business in the UK, with over 74,000
employees who are all Partners in the business. The Partnership is
purpose-driven, existing to create a fairer and more sustainable
future for our Partners, customers, suppliers and communities. Our
Purpose not only inspires our principles, drives our decisions and
acts as our guide to be a force for good, it steers us to do things
differently and better - all in service of creating a happier world
for everyone and everything we touch.
https://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/
About Waitrose
Waitrose & Partners has 331 shops in England, Scotland,
Wales and the Channel Islands, including 59 convenience branches,
27 shops at Welcome Break locations, and Waitrose.com - its
fast-growing online shopping business, consistently rated highly by
independent research. The retailer combines the convenience of a
supermarket with the expertise and service of a specialist shop -
dedicated to offering quality food that has been responsibly
sourced, combined with high standards of customer service. As part
of an employee-owned business, all Partners have a say in how the
business is run. https://www.waitrose.com/
About Blue Yonder
Blue Yonder is the world leader in digital supply chain
transformation. Global retailers, manufacturers and logistics
providers leverage Blue Yonder to optimize their supply chains from
planning through fulfillment, delivery and returns. Blue Yonder’s
AI-embedded, interoperable supply chain solutions are connected
end-to-end via a unified platform and data cloud, enabling
businesses to collaborate in real time across functions, which
supports more agile decision-making, improved customer
satisfaction, profitable growth, and more resilient, sustainable
supply chains. Blue Yonder - Fulfill your Potential™
blueyonder.com
“Blue Yonder” is a trademark or registered trademark of Blue
Yonder Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in
this document using the name “Blue Yonder” is a trademark and/or
property of Blue Yonder Group, Inc. All other company and product
names may be trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of
the companies with which they are associated.
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Blue Yonder Public Relations Contacts: Marina Renneke,
APR, Global Corporate Communications Sr. Director Tel: +1
480-308-3037, marina.renneke@blueyonder.com
Rossella Benti, EMEA Corporate Communications Director Tel: +39
335 7849149, rossella.benti@blueyonder.com