Through the deal, Accenture aims to expand its capabilities to help clients across retail and adjacent industries transform their supply chains and operations, and deliver seamless customer and employee experiences.
“With Covid-19 permanently disrupting the retail landscape, businesses need technology more than ever to embrace change and deliver products to customers where and when they want them," says Doug Blyth, a managing director at Accenture Technology in the U.K. and Ireland
REPL uses its deep retail expertise, coupled with cutting-edge technology skills, to help global businesses deliver sustainable value, says Accenture, pointing out that today's retailers are grappling with a surge in digital customers as a result of new shopping habits brought on by the pandemic.
"This is creating challenges but also huge opportunities for retailers to rethink their customer retention strategies. The pandemic accelerated key trends that were already well underway, such as the use of digital channels by customers who rarely or never shopped online before. To keep these new digital customers in this new climate, retailers need to alter their supply chains and operations, as well as think more openly about evolving customer expectations," says Accenture in a statement.
According to John Watling, client group managing director for Accenture in Africa, “South African retailers have been tested in the last year due to reduced consumer spending. This challenge has been exacerbated by the onset of Covid-19. The acquisition of REPL will further strengthen our local capabilities and help our clients in making their supply chains more resilient. This includes ensuring that core business values guide supply chain decisions, reshaping the supply chain for the future.”
REPL has relationships with key ecosystem partners, including Blue Yonder, and is recognised as a Gold Consulting Partner in Blue Yonder’s Partner network. The acquisition will further Accenture’s supply chain and operations functional focus to meet demand for Blue Yonder’s cloud-based solutions.
Kyle Harbinson, REPL’s lead partner in South Africa said, “REPL’s South African team has become a key part of our global delivery capability, serving clients both locally and abroad in areas such as supply chain optimisation and workforce transformation.
"Being part of Accenture provides an exciting opportunity to combine REPL’s deep solution expertise with the breadth of Accenture’s end-to-end transformational capabilities to help South African businesses adapt to the accelerated pace of change that Covid-19 has driven in our market.”
REPL is the latest acquisition Accenture has made to strengthen its technology capabilities in the UK. In February, it acquired Edenhouse, an independent SAP partner, and Infinity Works, a cloud and digital transformation consultancy.
