How Canadian Tire leveraged the potential of customer data with AI

Previously, only a limited number of people were able to generate and provide the various reports needed for analysis, planning and decision-making. Leaders saw a chance to open the information pipeline to accelerate queries and increase data accessibility for Canadian Tire’s wide range of business units and stakeholders.

Canadian Tire asked Ernst & Young LLP (EY) teams to create a plan to help modernize all of its customer data environments — in a deliberate shift from over-centralization to a more decentralized, business-embedded data model. In addition to improving visibility and operational efficiencies, the core objective was to drive growth and facilitate customer personalization across its 13 banners.

Data federation was a top priority. EY teams conducted an inventory of Canadian Tire’s customer data, holding some 40 discovery meetings with more than 100 stakeholders over the course of three months. Critical questions included how data was entering the company’s current system, where it was being captured and stored, and who and what programs were generating reports based on that data.

Process mapping revealed nearly 500 data paths with numerous redundancies, resulting in multiple copies of similar customer data sets bogging down the entire system. There were also notable gaps in the data and inconsistencies in how it was sourced and provisioned by stakeholders. EY teams identified 165 data processes to be refined for Canadian Tire’s future state operating model.

“With a massive volume of retail business being transacted and multiple brand banners to consider, this was an energizing challenge for EY teams to take on,” says Alex Mohelsky, EY Global Technology Strategy Lead and Chief Innovation Officer. “We brought in an exceptional team with knowledge ranging across data management, AI and analytics, cloud transformation and change management – we were able to address every aspect successfully while working alongside our Canadian Tire counterparts.”

To strategically leverage data as a competitive advantage, the EY team recommended Canadian Tire realign and configure its existing data architecture and technology investments in a data mesh construct. The proposed platform, built on the Microsoft Azure stack, would unite a distributed domain-driven architecture, self-service design and product focus, helping Canadian Tire cultivate synergies among the legacy silos.

A decentralized data model, supported by a smarter technology infrastructure and restructured governance, has unleashed the potential of customer data for Canadian Tire’s business growth. Agile methodology helped coordinate, support and govern the more decentralized approach to foster operational and business success​ for the 24 business units engaged in the transformation.
 

New dashboards on the Microsoft Power BI platform enable business domains to harness data in more agile ways. Banners can now use this data more effectively to analyze product performance by stock keeping unit (SKU), applying the results to determine what items should be promoted where, when and how.
 

For example, Canadian Tire’s Triangle Rewards Program is now strategically calibrated to match products with buyer patterns, exclusive deals and future marketing potential by capturing high-volume, real-time insights into customer interaction and purchasing trends across digital channels.
 

“Retail is among the most competitive of all the industries we work with, and Canadian Tire is in the upper echelon with multiple brands, locations, online outlets and customer incentive programs,” says David McQueen, EY Canada Managing Partner, Consulting; Member, EY Canada Executive Committee. “Data management is of paramount importance to large retailers like this. We needed to bring the strength of experience and current knowledge to get their data models right.”
 

Phase 1, streamlining Canadian Tire’s customer data management, led to an encore. EY teams are now supporting a transformation of Canadian Tire’s product data management.
 

Canadian Tire may have traveled miles from its original tire store, but the company has never lost sight of its purpose – serving a loyal customer base with speed, stability and forward vision.