Shop Direct teams up with IBM to revamp financial services

Multi-brand online retailer Shop Direct has signed an agreement with US tech giant IBM as part of a £50m programme to upgrade its financial services platform.

The deal will see Shop Direct’s credit offer hosted and managed via IBM’s hybrid cloud, expanding on a 10-year services agreement announced in 2015.

Working with IBM, Liverpool-headquartered Shop Direct will aim to offer customers a broader set of finance options and a more personalised user experience.

Alex Baldock, Shop Direct’s group CEO, said: “I’m proud to announce our Personalisation Partnership with IBM today. We already work closely with IBM in areas such as data security and the way we personalise the retail shopping journey.

“This deal will broaden that relationship as we work with IBM to give Shop Direct groundbreaking capabilities to use our unique understanding and relationship with our customers to offer financial services products tailored to them.”

Shop Direct believes the new system will allow it to respond more quickly to new offers coming onto the market, potentially giving it the means to provide new credit options faster and at a better price for the consumer.

IBM’s UK and Ireland chief executive, David Stokes, commented: “Consumers now expect an increasingly personalised and flexible user experience across all of their digital interactions, personal or professional.

“There has been a boom in cloud computing to meet the demands of this marketplace, offering access to unlimited computing power as required and easier ways to process large amounts of information.”

Speaking further, Mr Stokes said cloud technology is no longer an IT trend as it drives businesses forward.

He continued: “The real winner in all this is the Shop Direct consumer as they are being provided with a much more engaging and immersive customer experience through the cloud.”

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