Priceline can now track its customers in real-time

Natasha Gillezeau

Nov 11, 2019

AFR

Australia’s Priceline Pharmacy network has changed the way its managers track what products people are buying and when they shop the most with a new app that collects and displays near real-time data.

The move into real-time reporting is a change from how the stores – operated by ASX-listed Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) – have operated for years, whereby executives visit stores each month and log information manually that is later turned into store reports.

James Matson, IT retail innovation lead for API (Priceline), has developed an app that lets HQ check in on real-time information about what people are buying and when in any given store. 

The most up-to-date information previously available came in the form of reports that could be generated at the end of each day.

API’s IT retail innovation lead, James Matson, developed the new app “Heart in Hand” in a few weeks, using Microsoft’s PowerApps software suite.

He said Heart in Hand can be viewed on any device at any time, with data collected automatically from in-store systems.

Data about customer behaviour is constantly collected and uploaded onto the cloud. Heart in Hand allows API executives to select which data they want and have it presented to them in various tiles, tables and graphs.

The built-in charting ability of PowerApps also lets managers compare current week with last week’s performance for an instant measure of progress.

The initial idea for the app came out of an “ideas jam” in late 2018 attended by about 60 people across API’s business including the IT department, but also by staff who work in merchandising and marketing.

Mr Matson said he asked API’s retail team what three bits of information would be the most useful for them to receive in real-time.

He said real-time information was more useful than end-of-day reports, because store managers could see how particular cosmetics promotions were working.

Useful data about in-store activity can be looked at on a range of devices that have access to Microsoft Office from smartphones to laptops.

“Prior to the app, that would have been the sort of thing you could only really get a sense of 24 hours afterwards,” he said.

“But by that time, it’s almost too late to make tactical decisions and change things around. Whereas having the app means they’re actually seeing that data flow in every few minutes. And they can actually make decisions based on that data.”

API has been in business for 105 years and has more than 480 Priceline Pharmacy stores, and 970 Soul Pattinson Pharmacist Advice Club premium members.

Mr Matson said that in retail, technological innovation spending wasn’t always a high priority and legacy systems were often firmly entrenched.

Therefore, developing the app on Microsoft PowerApps was a good option because API already had a subscription to Microsoft Office, so no extra funding was needed for new infrastructure or hardware.

“It was a case of just get on, build the app, get it out into people’s hands and see the results,” Mr Matson said.

The app was initially tested by six users in head office. Now, it is in the hands of about 116 users. A form built into the app lets people suggest new features or vote on ideas for improving it.

When The Australian Financial Review visited a number of Priceline pharmacies, it was clear that while some pharmacy business leaders knew about the new app, others had never heard of it, and thought they were being asked about Priceline’s in-store customer feedback collection system.

Mr Matson said support at the executive level had been positive and he hoped uptake of the app across the API network continued.

Priceline’s chief information officer, Dean Matthews, dubbed the Heart in Hand app the retail ‘Holy Grail’ through its ability to serve up real-time store transactional insights into point-of-sale sales, basket visibility, customer loyalty status and offer promotional effectiveness.

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