API partners with Google Cloud

Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) is reportedly partnering with Google Cloud to accelerate its digital transformation strategy, and leverage data and machine learning to deepen customer engagement.

API is the parent company behind well-known Australian brands, including Priceline Pharmacy, Soul Pattinson Chemist and Pharmacist Advice, and will be leveraging a host of Google Cloud solutions to unlock advanced customer analytics and build an end-to-end view of its customers across e-commerce, web channels, mobile apps, and API digital health services.

“Our customers are at the heart of our digital strategy,” says Dean Matthews, Chief Transformation Officer, API.

“Priceline’s Sister Club is Australia’s fifth-largest loyalty program with more than 7.5 million members across the country, and we see huge potential in leveraging the platform to curate even more relevant and personalised experiences for our discerning customer base, driven by their shopping preferences and purchase history.”

It’s been said that Google Cloud will work together with API’s existing digital strategy, starting with the integration of API’s loyalty, e-commerce, and customer data platforms into a single ‘Digital Customer Hub’ hosted on Google Cloud.

API plans to modernise its legacy data platform leveraging Big Query and Google Cloud AI to analyse existing data and generate real-time insights about customer behaviour, preferences, and propensity to purchase API products and digital services.

Working with Google Cloud’s partner Riley, API plans to also implement Recommendations AI, to deliver curated recommendations across API touchpoints and dynamically adapt to real-time customer behaviour and changes in variables like assortment, pricing, and special offers.

“Understanding buyer behaviour and translating that into actionable insights is critical to our digital strategy and Google has long been a pioneer in this space,” says Mr Matthews.

“Our vision is to build more value-based, long-term relationships with our customers and with Google Cloud, we have an innovation partner with a proven track record of success and technical expertise to drive more intelligent, data-driven experiences and build stronger brand loyalty.”

“We are proud to be partnering with an industry innovator like API, to digitally transform omnichannel customer experiences,” says Alister Dias, Vice President, Google Cloud in Australia and New Zealand.

“In the highly competitive retail market, data is a strategic differentiator and can unlock powerful benefits for retailers.

“With Google Cloud, API has the foundation to quickly harness the power of the cloud to deliver insights that create richer, more contextualised customer experiences.”