British grocer Sainsbury partners with Microsoft to use AI for data insights

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Sainsbury’s said on Friday it has agreed a five-year strategic partnership with Microsoft that will use the technology company’s artificial intelligence capabilities and the supermarket group’s rich data.

Looking for revenue gains and cost savings, more retailers are using generative AI to drive personalized shopping experiences for consumers and make employee work practices more efficient.

Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second-largest grocer after Tesco, said it would use AI to create a more interactive shopping experience for online shoppers, while also improving search functions.

In stores, employees would have real-time data and insights for key processes such as shelf replenishment.

Time to market for new services and product innovations would also be reduced, Sainsbury’s said.

No financial details of the partnership were disclosed.

In February, Sainsbury’s updated the market on its strategy, setting a new cost reduction target of £1 billion ($1.3 billion) over three years and committing to increasing returns for customers. shareholders.

Last month it forecast profit growth of up to 10% in the current financial year, which began on March 3, confident it can continue to win more customers from rivals.

($1 = 0.7895 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Jamie Freed)