Bunnings To Accelerate Digital Investment

Bunnings is to invest in a new enterprise data platform to better leverage business data and insights to improve the customer experience and enhance business decision-making.

Wesfarmers recently (3rd June) hosted its latest Strategy Briefing Day (the presentation  can be viewed here) and discussed the importance of data and digital to its home improvement fascia.

Digital acceleration was noted as a key focus for the Bunnings business, with the retailer planning to continue to accelerate technology that will enable it to better understand its customers, and allow it to develop and implement tools to improve their shopping experiences.  Furthermore, Bunnings will also invest in technology to better support staff, increasing the number of Zebra handheld units for staff and the use of communication devices.

Bunnings' focus will be to:

- Continue to increase the ways customer information is captured, using a strong governance framework
- Continue to upgrade core technology platforms
- Use data more effectively to improve the customer experience
- Build team capability further to enable ongoing improvement
- Uplift business and fulfilment capabilities

Bunnings also revealed plans to grow the commercial side of the business, advising of its intention to leverage technology to better serve customers.  The Bunnings PowerPass app - technology which allows tradespeople to pay for purchases in one of three ways (cash, credit or 30-day account) - is to be rolled out to all trade brands and format, and a new Customer Relationship Management platform is being put in place.

During the event, Michael Schneider, Bunnings' MD, said: “Pleasingly, we're also bringing in a new enterprise data platform that will help us analyse data and provide a new level of insight,” 

“Our technology, digital and analytics teams, who've done such amazing work in a short period of time, continue to grow.

“We're using this talent and technology to understand areas where we can improve customer experience, drive operational efficiencies across all channels as well as make smarter business decisions.”

Of the PowerPass expansion, he said: “The app itself will continue to evolve so it's even easier to use and provide those using that with a more personalized experience,”

“Behind the scenes, we're in the process of rolling out a new CRM platform through Salesforce, which will help provide our team with a deeper understanding of our customers, allowing for a stronger level of connection and engagement, including putting everything our sales teams need to know about our customer relationships on their mobile devices”.

Wesfarmers said that the key messages for the Bunnings business are:

• Continued transformation and evolution of our business to stay connected to customers, team and community
• Significant investments in our offer and enabling technologies to drive growth
• Rapid acceleration of our digital and data assets and capabilities 
• Staying true to our culture and building trust with all stakeholders remains at the heart of who we are and what we do 
• Disciplined capital investment and a focus on quality execution over the long term

Download the Strategy Briefing Day Presentation here. 

Source : Insight DIY Team

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