Coles to build a one-stop supplier platform on Salesforce

Coles is set to develop a new platform on Salesforce that will serve as a one-stop shop for suppliers across its brands.

The supermarket giant revealed plans for the new platform on Friday, which it said would “transform its supplier experience”.

It follows a period of supply chain disruption for the retailer, driven by a surge in Covid-19 infection over the summer.

Coles said the supplier platform will become the “single point of contact into Coles” for Australian and international suppliers, including brands like Coles Express and Liquorland.

“It will enable greater levels of self service, standardisation and improved end-to-end experiences, with supplies able to get a holistic view of their relationship and product performance,” it said.

A spokesperson told iTnews the platform will replace a group of legacy applcations with “Salesforce CRM, including marketing cloud, content management and knowledge base”.

The platform is expected to be rolled out over several years , with Coles to release functionality iteratively.

Coles’ chief commercial officer Greg Davis said the “investment represents our commitment to build stronger supplier partnerships”.

He said the platform will leverage “best in class technology to become more connected than ever before, making it easier for us to exchange information and work more collaboratively in real-time”.

“Strong partnership with our suppliers are integral to achieving our ambitions,” Davis added.

Salesforce retail and consumer goods area vice president Jo Gaines said the work will “enable [Coles] to better respond to the dynamic requirements of its supplier network” and “boost productivity”.

Updated at 4:15pm to include additional comments from Coles