Shop Direct is moving to a new platform as it looks to improve its customers’ online shopping experience.
The retailer, behind brands including Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com, has opted to move to a hybrid cloud model, signing a 10-year deal with IBM to give it flexibility as it expands and and extra on-demand cloud capacity on key peak dates such as Black Friday.
“As the UK and Ireland’s leading multi-brand digital retailer, we’re looking to tap IBM’s cloud computing expertise to allow us to innovate and add value to both the experience we deliver to customers and the working experience we offer our people,” said Andy Wolfe, chief information officer at Shop Direct .
The new deal promises to improve the customer experience through cloud-based analytics, mobile, social and security offerings, while a mobile workforce of some 4,000 people will be equipped with tools from desktops and laptops to support for tablets and smartphones.
Shop Direct currently sees more than a million visitors a day to its online and mobile platforms, and delivers more than 48 million products a year.
“This announcement is a significant milestone in the deployment of enterprise cloud and extends IBM’s position as the premier global cloud platform,” said Tony Morgan, client chief innovation officer, strategic outsourcing Europe. “Our secure, open enterprise cloud platform will enable Shop Direct to quickly deliver new innovations to its customers and staff and continue to build its leadership as a digital retailer.”
