Asda accelerates multi-channel offering with Blue Yonder

Leading British retailer Asda will leverage world-class Blue Yonder capabilities to optimise its end-to-end operations and deliver ambitious business transformation.

The UK retail market is one of the most dynamic markets in the world, where consumers demand great products and an excellent customer experience, through any channel at any time. That is why Asda, one of Britain’s leading retailers with a unique position in the market, has selected to digitally transform its end-to-end supply chain and retail operations with Blue Yonder.

Asda will implement several SaaS-based capabilities within Blue Yonder’s Luminate Planning, Luminate Commerce and Luminate Logistics, as well as Luminate Control Tower, all running on the Luminate Platform.

Asda consists of supercentres, superstores, and smaller supermarkets. The retailer also runs petrol filling stations and Asda Living stores, which offer its popular George clothing and home merchandise lines. The company employs more than 140,000 colleagues serving more than 18 million customers who shop in its stores and online weekly.

With the company needing to transition from its legacy solutions as a result of moving to a UK-based ownership, Asda was looking for end-to-end retail solutions that would cover commercial, supply chain, logistics, and retail operations. This includes artificial intelligence- (AI) powered forecasting, end-to-end supply chain visibility, omni-channel fulfilment, and workforce management capabilities.

With Blue Yonder, Asda will be able to:

• Use machine learning (ML) at scale to provide a demand projection with calculated business impact and risk that enables better inventory management, waste reduction and an improved understanding of demand drivers and customer behaviours.
• Leverage ML to optimise pricing strategies reducing excess stock and avoiding waste.
• Deliver efficiency and value across the entire omni-channel retail business with a connected platform.
• Horizon scan thanks to visibility into forecasting, fulfilment and transportation, leveraging Blue Yonder’s automation while keeping a high level of control.
• Gain inbound visibility for both domestic and import orders ensuring products are available to meet consumer demand at the right place, at the right time.
• Provide Asda colleagues in stores and in distribution centres with a robust workforce management capability.

“We are embarking on a large-scale, exciting business transformation project to build our Future, in which we want to work with the very best retail technology providers in the market with proven experience and world-class capabilities,” said Carl Dawson, chief information officer, Asda. “We are looking forward to implementing this project with our strategic partner Blue Yonder, as we continue to build a fast, effective and agile business.”

“We are looking forward to supporting Asda with our innovative capabilities and experience,” said Johan Reventberg, president, EMEA, Blue Yonder. “We have built a strong relationship with Asda over the years, and we have consistently demonstrated how our advanced capabilities can help them fulfil their potential and drive value, early and often. Not only are our solutions a fit for Asda’s long-term goals, so is our culture and our values. We are honoured to embark on this exciting journey with Asda and look forward to bringing value to both Asda, their partners and their customers.”