Wickes, Deliveroo and EE’s digital strategies revealed

Tesco, Kingfisher, Wickes, Deliveroo, Lucky Saint, EE, The Very Group and Not On The High Street are among those confirmed to speak the event, which will run from 8.30am to 12.30pm. Retailers confirmed to attend include Co-op, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asos, Marks & Spencer, Halfords and Aldi. 

Here are three transformative trends we’ll be exploring at the event.

Wickes: Supercharging loyalty

As consumers continue to chase price and convenience, loyalty is increasingly tough to come by but innovations in data and AI are helping retailers transform fickle shoppers into brand advocates.  

Digital-first Wickes is creating a loyalty proposition beyond a discount scheme. Its AI-led customer relationship programme, Missions Motivation Engine (MME), launched in 2021 with Team ITG. Wickes digital director Paul Canavan describes the innovative scheme as working through leveraging data from “customer indicators” produced through interaction with Wickes’ digital ecosystem, which help identify the “missions” (projects) customers are most likely to take on. This data is then used to “communicate to those customers through a series of programmes and campaigns with right-time and right-message communications.” 

Canavan will be discussing Wickes’ loyalty strategy further at the Digital Summit and exploring how it helps to ensure its position as a trusted partner for both its trade and DIY customer groups, driving strong growth and frequent spend. He will also dive into the success of its ‘TradePro scheme’, which he describes as one of Wickes’ “most engaged with” campaigns, offering trade customers both lifestyle and functional rewards and offers.  

Talking on the scheme’s success, Canavan said: “Not only does this [the TradePro scheme] mean we are engaging customers at the right time, it massively reduces the wastage of non-targeted communications in the channels where personalisation is key.” 

Hear more from Wickes’ digital director Paul Canavan on the retailer’s technology strategy with your free pass to the Digital Summit.

Deliveroo: Customer-centric tech

Among the pioneers of on-demand delivery, Deliveroo has helped drive the reinvention of convenience. 

Moving beyond its beginnings as a restaurant delivery service, Deliveroo has expanded into grocery delivery and added retail brands across DIY, flowers, pet, baby, gifts and more, giving retailers opportunity to diversify the fulfilment options they can offer customers. 

Deliveroo’s enormous scale – over 7 million active monthly users placing around 300 million orders per year – has been supported by building proprietary technology to ensure orders are intuitive and reliable for riders and merchants, while also optimising the consumer experience. 

‘Plus’, which launched in 2017 as a delivery subscription, has transformed into a loyalty programme, with Deliveroo aiming to become a Plus-first business by 2026. 

Last year, Deliveroo made the biggest innovations to its Plus loyalty programme since its inception, which vice president products Emma Simmonds will discuss at the Digital Summit. A testament to the programme’s success, 44% of Deliveroo orders now come from Plus subscribers, with Plus members twice as likely to try new restaurants and spend three times as much as non-Plus customers. 

Simmonds said: “At Deliveroo, we are consumer obsessed. This means leveraging cutting-edge technology to provide an industry-leading consumer experience underpinned by great selection and value, and a great delivery experience.” 

Hear more from Deliveroo vice president product Emma Simmonds as she lifts the lid on customer-centric approach to tech at Retail Week’s Digital Summit.

EE: AI brings the wow factor

EE’s transformation into an experience-focused retailer continues apace with it having rolled out new format experiential stores in 2024. 

It has since opened experience local stores in Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff, plus an extended reality space in the flagship store. 

EE managing director of commercial Sharon Meadows spoke to Retail Week in March about the role AI is playing across EE’s products and operations, highlighting that retail helps it demonstrate to customers how a device with AI can help in their everyday lives. Employees are well informed and “almost specialised in understanding what AI brings to customers”. 

As well as the direct benefit to customers, AI is being used as a support tool for employees. Meadows told Retail Week: “We build it into our sales processes to give our staff support, almost like a co-pilot. When a customer calls, the co-pilot can prompt colleagues.  

“For example, if I’ve been on an eight-hour shift and I’m feeling a bit tired and that’s coming across in my tone, the AI agent can let me know I sound lethargic, or if a customer has been on hold a bit too long. It can prompt on behavioural things.”  

Meadows also described how AI tools are being used to remind staff to talk about specific promotions and deals. “I think that’s fantastic because it means the experience as a customer and as a colleague is so much better.”