CIO50 2023 #6 Steve James, Woolworths NZ

Name: Steve James
Title: General Manager of Technology
Company: Woolworths New Zealand
Commenced current role: 2023
Reporting line: (Dual) NZ Managing Director, Director Group Enablement Transformation
Technology function: 250 staff, six direct reports

Steve James –  who has been with supermarket Woolworths for six years – was promoted to the role of General Manager of Technology earlier this year and is number six in the 2023 CIO50 List.

Woolworths is the country’s largest private sector employer, with 20,000 New Zealanders employed in its stores, support offices, processing plants and distribution centres. It owns and operates over 185 supermarkets around the country and currently is rebranding all its Countdown stores to Woolworths.

Retail NZ estimates that retail crime in the past 12 months has cost retailers $2.6 billion in stolen goods and loss prevention measures.  Steve James says that Woolworths is not immune to this, with unprecedented increases in store crime and customer aggression towards frontline staff. “Our commitment to our team is to provide a safe working environment and tools to support positive customer interactions,” he says.

To this end the technology team has introduced ‘Scan Assist’, a computer vision machine Learning Solution that detects abnormal customer behaviour within the checkout process. The core of Scan Assist, according to James, is a model of “expected/normal customer behaviour.”

Over a span of months, the computer vision – machine learning technology observes and assesses customer interactions at both self-checkout and staffed lanes. This model-building process equips the system with an understanding of tendered products and customer behaviour, while also discerning items that should be disregarded—handbags, backpacks, wallets, and items intended to be left in the trolley.

“As customers engage in their checkout routines, Scan Assist correlates their actions with its model in real time,” says James. “This real-time assessment serves as an advanced safeguard, alerting the team to instances where discrepancies arise, as they happen. Whether a customer unintentionally leaves items unscanned in their trolley, scans a mismatched barcode (to receive a cheaper price) or places an item directly into a bag. We have positioned Scan Assist as a vigilant ‘assistant’ that supports our team in their customer engagement.”

James says that in his opinion the true innovation of Scan Assist lies in its proactive approach to resolution. “Instead of reprimand or confrontation, the solution fosters self-correction. Visual cues promptly display to customers during the transaction, gently prompting them to rectify any deviations from the expected behaviour. In cases that necessitate intervention, our team members engage in non-confrontational dialogues “Excuse me sir, I think the system may have mis-scanned that product, let me assist you” – it adds a human touch but the team are empowered by the visual insights provided by Scan Assist.”

The initiative has resulted in positive feedback from Woolworths customers, with wait times scores marked favourably in stores where Scan Assist has been deployed. There has also been a decrease in serial offenders visiting stores where they had previously targeted.

Driving meaningful change

As General Manager for Technology, Steve James has been working strategically with other business units to drive meaningful change in Woolworths by seeking opportunities to influence and deliver innovative ideas outside of the Technology arena.

Examples of this include the organisation’s commitment to sustainability by championing opportunities like EV charging, opportunities to optimise supply chains and improve the freshness of fruit and produce.

“The genesis of these ideas come from within the technology team, championed by my team and key stakeholders from across the business,” says James. “A consistent and future focussed narrative that underscores our commitment to tailored innovation.”

To this end, the Woolworths team also formed a strategic partnership with Google New Zealand.  “Together, we orchestrated an innovation challenge and hackathon, aligning it with our sustainability targets. We secured support and funding from the business, rallying talent from across our wider teams to tackle some of our most urgent sustainability concerns.”