Raghuveer Perumal

Current Role: Head of Product

The platform powering tomorrow's Tesco.

A lot goes into building an entire technology platform. Big ideas, big risks, a big team. Luckily, Raghuveer likes big challenges. From re-launching our meal deal to bringing better deals to our colleagues and customers with Clubcard prices, he’s had a truly varied career. Take it away, Raghuveer.

“In my role as a Software Engineer in India, I helped re-launch the meal deal. I built the application that colleagues used to choose which products would be part of the promotion. It was about making sure the right item was included, at the right price, in the right store. I’m extremely curious, and I remember always being interested in why customers chose a particular offer over others or how the price of a product is decided.

In fact, that curiosity led me to my next role as a Business Analyst, which involved transforming our customers’ wants and needs into technology requirements. During that time, I had the amazing opportunity to live and work in Bangkok, Prague, Budapest and Krakow, and finally, I moved to the UK. And in 2016, I became a Product Manager.

“The biggest transformation I’ve witnessed at Tesco is our appetite for risk.”

I’m proud to work for an organisation where hierarchy doesn’t dictate the way we work. It’s open, transparent and ideas can be shared freely. There have been loads of changes since I started in 2007, but the biggest transformation I’ve witnessed at Tesco is our appetite for risk. It gives us the opportunity to test and succeed or test and fail, but even if we fail, we learn and try again. This gives even more room for innovation, and that’s great to be part of.

A few years ago, we looked at how we could increase our offering to our colleagues. Previously, we got a blanket 10% discount on all Tesco products – but we wanted to better that. Using the Tesco Retail Platform that our team built in 2017, we could offer more personalised discounts and promotions. People would simply swipe their Colleague Clubcard and be offered 25% off at our cafes, 20% off clothing or 50% off feminine hygiene products, for example. And that led us to think: ‘If we can do this for colleagues, why not customers too?’

“Tesco believes in my beliefs.”

That’s when Clubcard prices evolved exponentially. The big idea was all about how we could create a seamless experience for customers, wherever and however they shop with us. We wanted to give customers instant discounts for their loyalty as well as streamlining checkout experience, whether they were shopping online or in store.

It was a huge undertaking that involved multiple teams around the globe, and there were many challenges along the way. But it was achieved because Tesco trusted the vision. Because Tesco believes in my beliefs. What I mean by that is: I have a belief that I know what will work for our customers, and Tesco believes in me. Thanks to that belief, we’ve changed the way customers shop with us.

“Clubcard pricing is the start of a massive revolution for pricing and personalisation.”

We tested a single product – instant coffee – to see if Clubcard pricing would work. Would our customers understand the idea? I remember being in a store and observing a customer looking at the offer display. It had obviously sparked her interest, she looked at the offer, back to her bag, back to the offer and then she took her Clubcard from her wallet, and called out to her partner: “I’m special. I’m getting a special discount because I have a Clubcard.” Witnessing that was so rewarding. As a Product Manager, you live for these moments.

We scaled it through more stores, adding more products with our Clubcard prices, and from then on we saw even bigger results. On the new platform, we went from zero to eight million transactions a day, all while still trading. Clubcard sign-ups skyrocketed. People using our app shot up from one million to three million in a short space of time. And we got great feedback from customers. It was a profound change that positively impacted our colleagues and customers, and it’s really shaped the way we can do things in the future. Clubcard pricing is the start of a massive revolution for pricing and personalisation. It’s a game changer. With this new platform, we can innovate and deliver at a faster pace than our competitors. All thanks to this cutting-edge technology.

“So many innovations have been made possible by the Tesco Retail Platform.”

Not many people can say they’ve been part of serving over 20 million customers. But my entire team can. It’s been great for business and it’s made our customers happy. So many innovations have been made possible by the Tesco Retail Platform. And the best bit? It’s completely homegrown, built from scratch. So come and join us. You’ll get every opportunity to explore your passion while helping to power tomorrow’s Tesco.”

Being part of our Technology team means you get the time and tools to try new things. Like the ideas that make life a little better for our customers and colleagues. And the career progression that makes life a little better for you, too.