Best&Less
Group
is
in
the
early
stages
of
a
technology
program
that
will
deliver
better
product
lifecycle
management
and
a
new
customer
data
platform.
Announcing
the
retailer’s
first-half
2023
financials,
executive
chair
Jason
Murray
said
the
group
needed
to
be
better
at
both
data
and
digital.
The
company
is
trialling
a
new
point-of-sale
system
in
one
store,
which
Murray
described
as
a
“cutting
edge
POS”
that
delivers
transactional
efficiency,
and
“also
gives
us
real-time
data
for
inventory
management,
and
customer
management”.
More
broadly,
the
company’s
technology
plan
remains
relatively
nascent,
with
Murray
saying
the
group
isn’t
“yet
in
a
position
to
flesh
out”
details
such
as
technology
partners
and
expected
costs.
At
the
time
of
the
group’s
IPO
in
2021,
Murray
said,
it
was
“working
on
individual
parts
of
the
program,
and
the
board
encouraged
us
to
look
at
it
more
holistically.
“There’s
a
whole
stream
of
work
to
create
that
roadmap,
and
we’re
not
committed
to
changing
systems
if
we
don’t
have
to,”
he
said.
Cloud
offerings
mean
“you
can
get
best-of-breed
that
costs
you
less
in
total”,
and
it
also
means
that
implementations
can
be
“paced
differently”.
“Nothing
compared
to
the
costs
in
days
gone
by,
where
you’d
write
a
ten
million
[dollar]
cheque
and
hope,”
Murray
said.
“We
would
expect
it
to
be
much
less
than
that,
over
a
longer
time.”
The
other
key
program
of
work
is
to
rework
the
Best&Less
mobile
app
and
website,
both
of
which
are
expected
to
be
finished
before
the
end
of
2023.
Two
key
appointments
were
announced
today
to
underpin
the
company’s
digital
and
data
strategy.
Best&Less
has
secured
the
services
of
Bruno
de
Sousa
as
group
head
of
strategy
and
insights.
He
is
formerly
of
DoorDash,
WooliesX
and
Woolworths.
In
addition, Bridie
Commerford
will
join
Best&Less
as
chief
marketing
and
digital
officer
from
The
Travel
Corporation,
where
she
was
chief
marketing
officer
from
March
2020
and
chief
marketing
and
digital
officer
from
May
2022.
In
spite
of
headwinds
caused
by
Covid,
including
now-easing
supply
chain
disruptions,
Best&Less
and
its
New
Zealand
operation,
Postie,
turned
in
revenue
13
percent
higher
than
the
first
half
of
2022
at
$324.8
million,
with
a
net
profit
after
tax
of
$13.7
million.
About Author
