Coles goes on ‘digital network’ shopping spree

Coles is set to digitise its stores with the rollout of a high-speed network across 2400 stores, supply chain and corporate sites in a bid to drive efficiencies.

As part of the multi-year partnership with Optus Business for digital network and telecommunications services, the retailer said digitisation will improve the shopping experience and help make life easier for customers and employees.

"The increased speeds and capacity of this new network give us the flexibility to rapidly increase the speed at which our stores can access and transfer data," said Coles chief information and digital officer, Roger Sniezek, in a statement.

"We are delighted to be partnering with Optus to leverage the speed, flexibility and agility of the new network, implement new digital initiatives, and ensure we are well-placed to take advantage of emerging technologies in coming years." 

Sniezek said the ability to deliver high capacity fibre services across the company’s retail, distribution and support centres nationally will mean an improvement in performance and the ability to unlock new opportunities to introduce innovative business solutions and technologies.

Utilising the capabilities of the new network infrastructure, Optus will deliver high-speed data services that will enable Coles to implement future digital strategies and improve service levels for our customers, the company said.

As part of the rollout of the new infrastructure, Optus will work directly with Coles' own digital and technology teams to provide them with the skills to fully utilise the capabilities of the network and drive innovation and productivity across the business, the company said.

Optus will also provide corporate mobile telephony services for Coles across Australia for voice and data.

"Optus is pleased to be partnering with Coles to provide an enterprise-grade network and a range of information and communication technology services that will accelerate the digitalisation of the Coles store network and enable an even better shopping experience for customers," said Optus Business managing director John Paitaridis.

Paitaridis said the new network will help make the lives of more than 115,000 Coles employees.

Under the plan, Optus will partner with NBN Co to deploy fibre connections to Coles supermarkets, liquor stores, Coles Express convenience stores, distribution centres and store support centres.

"We look forward to working with Optus on a network solution that will help enable digital innovation for years to come," NBN Co chief customer officer for business Paul Tyler said. 

 In recent news, Coles recently selected SAP to transform its operations across procurement, human resources and other business processes. 

 As reported in CIO Australia, the supermarket giant is rolling out SAP S/4HANA, along with SAP Ariba and SAP SuccessFactors in order to “gain new insights, streamline and automate its HR and procurement processes and make life increasingly easy for its customers and team members,” the company said.