General Merchandise Procurement Operations

Background

General merchandise procurement operations were managed by separate teams in John Lewis and Waitrose often selling the same goods from the same suppliers. JLP wanted to streamline these operations.

Challenges included:​

  • Multiple teams and systems involved in the process​
  • Many systems were earmarked for decommissioning and change was restricted.​
  • New Oracle RMS deployment in progress.​
  • Major process differences between John Lewis and Waitrose such as pricing and promotions

Approach

A Solution architect from Reply engaged with business stakeholders, business analysts , Enterprise Architecture team and the delivery teams from John Lewis and Waitrose to define and deliver key decisions and high-level designs. ​

The project was delivered in multiple iterations and the solution architect oversaw the critical design elements of each iteration.​ The design covered process changes and integration of supplier, product , pricing and ordering across John Lewis and Waitrose.​ The desired end state was a single procurement process primarily run by John Lewis.​

The Results

John Lewis now manages buying operations for most general merchandise for the partnership​. Waitrose can leverage better terms and prices due to larger combined volumes​. Prices are automatically aligned across John Lewis and Waitrose.​ The ordering process is streamlined at Waitrose, which are now selling a higher volume of general merchandise in store, improving margins.​