Original reporting: cio.com.au (2019)
Coles Bets on Azure for Its Next Century of Retail
Australian supermarket and convenience retailer Coles has signed a strategic partnership with Microsoft, naming Azure as its cloud platform of choice. The deal spans cloud infrastructure, data analytics, artificial intelligence, enterprise resource planning, and modern workplace productivity — making it one of the broader cloud commitments announced by an Australian retailer at the time.
The partnership was positioned as a cornerstone of Coles’ Smarter Selling strategy: a business-wide push to simplify operations, increase the pace of change, and deliver improved experiences for customers, team members, and suppliers.
Building an Enterprise Data Platform at Scale
A central goal of the Azure migration is the construction of an Azure-based Enterprise Data Platform. According to Coles Chief Information and Digital Officer Roger Sniezek, the platform is designed to execute advanced analytics and AI across all areas of the business at extreme scale.
Practically, this means aggregating data from multiple proprietary sources — including the Flybuys loyalty program, customer transaction records, and internal research — to produce deeper business insights. Those insights are intended to drive two outcomes:
- Better range decisions: Using customer data to tailor product ranges to local shopping habits and preferences.
- Faster AI deployment: Enabling rapid rollout of AI capabilities into physical stores and across the supply chain.
AI in Stores: Reducing Manual Work for Team Members
One of the most concrete applications described is in-store productivity. Coles plans to equip store team members with new tools powered by Azure AI services to automate or streamline repetitive tasks such as:
- Stock management and replenishment tracking
- Price markdown processing
By removing manual overhead from these workflows, Coles says team members can redirect their time toward customer-facing activities — a pattern consistent with broader retail digitisation efforts where AI handles operational repetition and staff handle service.
Dynamics 365 for ERP in Coles Express and Meat Manufacturing
Beyond the core supermarket business, Coles will deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365 as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution in two specific business units:
- Coles Express — the company’s fuel and convenience store network
- Meat manufacturing operations
The stated objectives are simpler, more efficient, and more robust operational processes. Using a cloud-native ERP aligned to the broader Azure investment removes the need to maintain separate on-premises systems in these business units and provides a consistent data layer that can feed the enterprise data platform.
Modern Workplace: Office 365 and Agile Ways of Working
Coles will also roll out Microsoft’s Modern Workplace suite — including Office 365 — across the organisation. This component of the deal is aimed at improving collaboration and enabling more agile working practices for corporate and support teams, complementing the operational changes happening in stores and distribution.
Strategic Context: A Series of Digital Partnerships
The Microsoft deal was announced as part of a wider series of technology and digital partnerships Coles was building at the time. Sniezek described it as building on a long-standing relationship with Microsoft rather than a greenfield commitment, suggesting existing Microsoft licensing and tooling was already present in the Coles environment.
For DevOps and cloud engineering teams watching the retail sector, the Coles–Azure agreement illustrates a common pattern in large enterprise cloud migrations:
- Selecting a primary hyperscaler to consolidate workloads and reduce platform sprawl
- Anchoring the migration around a data and analytics use case that delivers measurable business value quickly
- Pairing infrastructure migration with SaaS and PaaS adoption (ERP, productivity tools) to accelerate capability delivery
- Using an innovation lab or centre of excellence — referenced in Sniezek’s comments — to prototype and validate AI use cases before broad rollout
Key Technologies in the Coles–Microsoft Deal
| Technology | Use Case |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure (cloud platform) | Core infrastructure, enterprise data platform, AI services |
| Azure AI Services | Customer insight, in-store automation, supply chain intelligence |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 | ERP for Coles Express and meat manufacturing |
| Office 365 / Modern Workplace | Collaboration and agile working across the business |
Bottom Line
Coles’ Azure migration represents a full-stack cloud commitment rather than a selective lift-and-shift. By linking cloud infrastructure to a coherent data strategy, in-store AI tooling, ERP modernisation, and productivity software under a single vendor partnership, Coles is trading platform diversity for integration depth and speed of execution — a trade-off that will resonate with engineering leaders managing transformation at scale in complex, multi-site retail environments.
This article is based on reporting originally published by cio.com.au in July 2019.