Travel retailer WHSmith has selected software company Xiatech’s hyper-integration data platform Xfuze to support its international expansion.
The 10-year partnership allows WHSmith to use Xfuze to integrate its system landscape and create a single view of trusted data covering customers, sales, product and inventory.
The AI-powered Xfuze platform will enable WHSmith’s technology group to obtain visibility of key processes, then transform and automate them across the retailer’s value chain, which is comprised of 14,000 colleagues in 1,700 stores across 30 countries.
This will reduce the cost of serving customers, improve operations and speed up responses to market threats and opportunities.
Xfuze is certified by the MACH Alliance which advocates for open enterprise technology ecosystems.
Xiatech CEO John Summerfield stated: “We are honoured to have been chosen by WHSmith to power the retailer’s travel, high street and international business including its digital transformation for years to come.”
WHSmith CIO Lyndon Hearn added: “As a business operating in more than 30 countries around the world, we are always looking at how we can consistently deliver the best possible experience for our customers, no matter where they shop with us.”
In the company’s FY23 results, WHSmith chief executive Carl Cowling highlighted the “highly scalable” travel business and projected investments of £140m in 2024.
