Chuan Lian Enterprise Co Ltd (全聯實業), which operates the nation’s largest supermarket chain, Pxmart (全聯福利中心), yesterday announced a five-year cooperation plan with IBM, focusing on enterprise transformation.
The plan is designed to help Pxmart reach its long-term goal of boosting annual sales to more than NT$200 billion (US$6.62 billion) by the end of 2020 from the NT$70 billion recorded last year, while increasing the number of stores from 700 to 1,000 by the end of 2017.
“The cooperation with IBM will raise our store quality in the short run, while helping us get a better understanding of our customers,” Chuan Lian president Hsu Chung-jen (徐重仁) told a media briefing.
Chuan Lian general manager Tony Tsai (蔡篤昌) said IBM, which has transformed to a total solution provider and consultant, will help integrate and standardize Chuan Lian’s information technology (IT) system as the first step of the plan.
The integrated system may lead Chuan Lian to better control inventories of dried food and fresh food and more systematically collect data on the group’s 7.5 million members.
Following the rise of new media and social media, analyzing membership data is more important for a company, Tsai said, adding that Chuan Lian may set a more accurate expansion plan and sell certain products in certain outlets according to member preferences.
Hsu, former president of President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商), has unveiled many revolutionary ideas for Pxmart since joining Chuan Lian in January.
Hsu has also led a number of his former colleagues at PCSC to Chuan Lian, including Tsai, former general manager of President Drugstore Business Corp (統一生活事業) — which owns Taiwan’s second-largest drugstore, Cosmed (康是美) — and Chuan Lian marketing director Liu Hong-cheng (劉鴻徵), the former head of 7net, PCSC’s online shopping portal.
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