Delivering essentials in half an hour.

 

Making sure customers get their last-minute orders as quickly as possible is no mean feat. Fortunately, Izabela loves a challenge and is the perfect person to keep Whoosh flowing. Over to you, Izabela.

 

“I’ve been at Tesco for five-and-a-bit years now. I’m a Technical Programme Manager, looking after Whoosh, our superfast home delivery service. Essentially, I make sure that all the behind-the-scenes stuff is organised so we can fulfil customer orders and deliver what they need on-time.

One of the most exciting things for me about Whoosh is the scale. Tesco is a huge organisation with millions of customers. There are a lot of products on our shelves and colleagues in our stores ready to pick the products. Add in some cool tech that optimises their journey to reduce the time it takes them to get the order ready for our third parties to deliver, and you’ve got a winning formula. Ultimately, that’s what helps us fulfil orders on time, and get customers their goods as quickly as we do.

We initially trialed Whoosh in two stores. Then, we got the green light to invest more in technology supporting Whoosh. That meant we could do cool things like letting customers track their delivery in real-time. And make store colleagues’ lives easier by improving the way they’re notified about the order, and how they can fulfil it more efficiently. And that’s all thanks to the tech we develop in house. Making small changes can have a huge impact to both customers and colleagues.

Another part of my role is thinking about the technological aspects of implementing solutions. It’s all about creating solutions that make our customers’ shopping experience smoother. I work with lots of different teams within the Fulfillment department at Tesco, and we work with Uber and Stuart to deliver. It was interesting to see how they developed technologies and different ways of working.

Recently, I’ve been working with the UX team to design an application for picking. We spoke to store colleagues to understand their problems and get a better understanding of how we could use technology to make their lives easier. I love popping into stores to chat with colleagues – we often get lots of positive feedback about the impact we’ve had on their day-to-day. It’s lovely hearing that work I’ve done has made a difference to colleagues. It’s so rewarding.

I’m involved in lots of projects with various groups of people – I love the variety. And, because we build all of the tech we use ourselves, everything we create is innovative and meets a purpose. It’s exciting!

I work with colleagues in Hungary, Poland and India. We also have a big base in Slovakia and Czech Republic. English isn’t my first language – I’m originally from Poland. What’s great about Tesco is the diversity and openness. There are so many people from different backgrounds and everyone is happy to share their knowledge. It makes for a great working environment.

I recently returned to work after five months of maternity leave. My husband and I decided he would look after our son because I was keen to get back to working full time. When I do something, I like to go all in. Before I came back, I met with the Senior Programme Leader in Fulfilment and had a great chat about which area would suit me best, I really appreciated the time and support I was given to get back to work

My line manager has been very supportive as well. Even now, when I have my one-to-ones, the first thing he says is ‘how is your son? What he's up to?’. I love that my colleagues care about what's going on in my life. When people show an interest in your personal life it impacts your work life.

That’s how we do things at Tesco – we have an easygoing, open culture. And when it comes to the work everyone feels free to share ideas. It’s not hierarchical. It’s really cool that we've been encouraged to raise our concerns and bring new ideas to the table. I would definitely say our culture is open.

I’d also say our culture is inclusive. Some people perceive technology to be a men’s environment, but that’s not the case at Tesco. I work with so many talented women – it’s fantastic. I love being a part of a Technology team at Tesco, and feeling like I belong as a woman in technology.”

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