Tesco CTO Guus Dekkers praises tech teams amid coronavirus outbreak
Tesco’s Chief Technology Officer has applauded the grocery giant’s tech teams for their hard work during the coronavirus crisis.
The retailer’s online service has struggled in recent times, with customers flocking to social media, upset at the lack of available delivery slots.
Earlier this week, Tesco boss Dave Lewis said: “We know that it’s difficult right now to get a delivery slot for online shopping. We are at full capacity for the next few weeks and we ask those who are able to safely come to stores to do so, instead of shopping online, so that we can start to free up more slots for the more vulnerable.”
CTO, Guus Dekkers, meanwhile, insisted that “in this unprecedented time, supporting our customers and assuring food for all is a difficult but rewarding challenge at Tesco.”
“Our technology teams are working around the clock (largely from home offices now) to make sure all systems and environments run smoothly whilst implementing critical changes, helping to serve our customers in the best possible way during this crisis,” he said in a LinkedIn post.
These changes include a dedicated recruitment and onboarding environment created in less than five days, “already consulted by thousands of potential new colleagues, allowing us to recruit and train 20.000 new store colleagues, drivers and pickers in a matter of days”.
There have also been modifications to the online ordering process to add more capacity and allowing better support of vulnerable customers. And an increase in the capacities of contact centres whilst enabling staff to work from home.
“I am very proud of the technology teams working day and night on getting this done, despite all lockdowns imposed on us in the mean time in all countries we operate in. Together, we can do this,” Dekkers concluded.
