Google extends ecommerce partnership with John Lewis

  • December 10, 2019
  • imc

Google Cloud has extended its ecommerce relationship with UK retail chain John Lewis Partnership, comprising John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarkets.

The employee-owned, heritage retail group now has 50 department stores and turned to Google Cloud to adjust, refine and scale up its ecommerce platform, across web and mobile, to meet growing customer demands, all with a goal of strengthening its customer service capabilities.

“We have learned first hand from years of working together that Google Cloud’s solutions are exceptional,” said Andrew MacInnes, CTO at John Lewis Partnership. “Fundamentally, we’re trying to put data at the heart of everything we do, supporting our business’ ability to operate as the retail landscape shifts. Having Google Cloud on this journey with us means we’re able to move quickly while taking fewer risks and staying true to our company culture.”

Google Cloud and the John Lewis Partnership began working together in 2014, with the retailer using G Suite to improve internal collaboration and productivity among its store partners. In 2018, Google Cloud created a centralised platform to connect data across several levels of the organisation to help accommodate the store’s rapid online growth. The company is now engaged with Google Cloud across two distinct pillars:

Ecommerce transformation: John Lewis & Partners and Google Cloud have worked together to re-platform the company’s ecommerce systems using Google Kubernetes Engine and microservices concepts. This work has made it possible to test new capabilities for shoppers more rapidly so it can provide a better digital retail experience.
Partnership data platform: John Lewis & Partners, Google and Google Cloud are also working to build a data management platform to automate decision-making and provide easier access to customer information. The platform serves as the foundation for AI and machine learning projects, allowing for more accurate customer insight and segmentation, ultimately creating smarter service and a better consumer experience.
Finally, ready for the recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday, John Lewis & Partners ramped up its cloud capacity and worked with Google Cloud to ensure orders were fulfilled quickly and efficiently.

“John Lewis & Partners is known for their innovation and amazing customer service, and it is our honour to work with them to not only meet, but also surpass their customer expectations with Google Cloud technology,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. “With the help of Google Cloud, John Lewis & Partners can continue to deliver a personalised customer experience in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.”

Google Cloud provides organisations with infrastructure and platform capabilities, along with expertise to reinvent their business with data-powered innovations on modern computing infrastructure. It says it deliver an enterprise-grade cloud that leverages Google’s technology to help companies operate more efficiently, modernise for growth and innovate for the future. Companies in more than 150 countries use Google Cloud.