The John Lewis Partnership, parent company of UK retailers John Lewis and Waitrose, is using Salesforce technology to transform its customer experience and self-service data culture.

Today, 73% of shoppers expect retailers to understand their needs and expectations. Having the ability to gain and act upon insights about preferences, shopping habits and behaviour is therefore imperative to building long-term loyalty and staying competitive.

With Salesforce Tableau, John Lewis has built a data-driven strategy that empowers 74,000 employees across its department stores, supermarkets and financial services groups. With data, they can better generate insights to improve the shopper experience, as well as manage inventory, automate tasks and make better decisions.

The Salesforce service cloud is helping John Lewis support shoppers throughout their online and in-store journey, saving an average of £1m in its call centre annually.

Einstein bots provide fast, convenient answers via its web site and WhatsApp. A virtual remote assistant delivers clear and timely video communication between shoppers and agents.

With Tableau professional services, John Lewis’ self-service platform gives 10,000 shop assistants a real-time view of sales and inventory data. These actionable insights have generated millions of pounds in business value.

Using a marketing cloud, the company has improved its marketing efficiency and engagement through automation, leading to 75% faster production time.

“Customers today expect to be served with products and recommendations that meet their needs,” said Libby Hickey, Tableau product manager at John Lewis. “Leaning on real-time data is a game-changer for our business and customers alike, be it online or on the high street. Investing in Salesforce has enabled our teams to make decisions faster and develop deeper relationships with our customers by providing a more personalised, convenient, and seamless customer experience.”

Navkinder Sanghera, head of UK retail at Salesforce, added: “With shifting customer demands and changing market dynamics, retailers must differentiate themselves with talents capable to understand customers’ preferences and personalise their experience using actionable data insights. John Lewis is a great example of an organisation prioritising data integration and fluency skills in their business strategy for the betterment of both customers and partners. We’re thrilled to support this much-loved UK brand on its journey to transform the combination of AI, data and CRM into outstanding customer experiences.”

Salesforce has helped upskill more than 500 of John Lewis’ staff with four-week data fluency skills boot camps.