Unilever signs partnership deal with Accenture to drive sales for ‘digitally savvy’ consumers

Unilever has signed a cloud deal with Accenture to help achieve its goal of creating a single system on which to run its trade and marketing operations.

The company’s products are used by more than two billion people worldwide each day and its brands include Domestos, Sure, and Persil. It has agreed to deploy Accenture’s Salesforce-based Cloud Trade Promotion Management (TPM) and Cloud Retail Execution (CR) offerings.

It is hoped the deployment will pave the way for Unilever to unify its front- and back-office information systems, and help it form closer ties between its brands and customers.

In November 2016, Unilever announced a digital transformation plan, which included an integration of IT throughout the business, not just in the back-end. The partnership with Accenture is another example of how the company is investing in digital technologies to drive the business and keep in relevant for today’s consumers.

John Zealley, senior managing director of Accenture’s consumer goods and services group, said building loyalty between “digitally savvy” customers and brands is important, as consumers are better equipped nowadays to shop around for a better deal.

“By using knowledge of consumer preferences and their evolving demands, Unilever is clearly adapting to the changing market and is well positioned to maintain a market leading position,” he added.

Gonzalo Esposto, global IT vice-president at Unilever, said: “This agreement is a strategic decision based on the skills and capabilities Accenture and Salesforce have in the technology and digital arena, as well as a long track record of successful partnership.

“In addition, the implementation of Accenture Cloud will help us close the loop between planning and execution to drive sales and improve customer loyalty and bring our IT costs down,”Esposto added.