Coles has partnered with Microsoft to personalise the shopping experience for more than four million FlyBuys customers using 19 major AI models.

The grocery giant has utilised computer vision technology to transform the checkout process, achieving a 94% accuracy rate in scanning items. The supermarket chain has leveraged Microsoft Azure to create an edge computing platform, addressing issues such as queue monitoring and enhancing service at point-of-sale systems across its 1,800 sites.

"Win-win solutions are those where we are helping our team members and our customers at the same time. Our technological investments into operational efficiency have translated into real, tangible benefits for our shoppers," said Coles Group GM of Data & Intelligence, Silvio Giorgio. "AI has given us the extraordinary ability to derive insight at a deeper level than ever before. And the excitement around the technology is electrifying. We are AI-ready and looking forward to what the technology can do for our people, but we are also moving with caution and a great sense of responsibility in how we use data and artificial intelligence."

The Finance & Operations Team at Coles uses generative AI to analyse over 40,000 pieces of verbatim feedback from customer surveys each week. The company is exploring how AI can continue to improve its operations and provide a safer and more inclusive shopping experience.

"The IEB is effectively our central nervous system, connecting all of the technological infrastructure we have in stores to a central plane that manages events, triggers alerts and recommends actions. It also collects a wealth of data from which we can extrapolate insights that each store can action in customised ways that work best for them," said Coles Group Head of Technology Innovation, Roslyn Mackay.

Coles uses AI to predict the flow of 20,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) to 850 stores nationwide, making 1.6 billion predictions each day. The company has developed an edge computing platform called the 'Intelligent Edge Backbone' (IEB), using Microsoft Azure Stack HCI, Azure AI and ML.

"The whole intention behind the Operations team’s digital insights journey is to be able to give store teams the right information at the right time to make their jobs easier. We also want to understand the impact of and relationship between our operations and the customer experience," said Coles Group GM of Finance, Operations & Sustainability, Rich Walker.