FairPrice Group continues delivering on its social mission with the cloud and data

Singapore imports more than 90% of its food from more than 170 countries and regions due to the lack of natural resources. Given its vulnerability to external headwinds, how can its local grocery retailers ensure food se­curity? For FairPrice Group, it is effectively using the cloud and data to make informed decisions that empower it to continue offering affordable grocer­ies and food through its supermarkets and food services in Singapore.

“We deliberately adopted a cloud and data strategy that enables us to be more agile and collaborate end-to-end (from our employees to our ecosystem). That way, we’re able to ensure the availability and affordability of our goods, supporting our mission of moderating/stabilising the cost of living in Singapore,” Dennis Seah, chief digital and technology officer of NTUC Enterprise and FairPrice Group, tells DigitalEdge at Google Cloud Next ‘23 in San Francisco.

FairPrice Group previously relied on a hybrid cloud environment – comprising Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services and on-premises – to run its operations, which was complex to manage. It therefore decided to make Google Cloud the foundation of its cloud and data strategy to simplify IT management, reduce operational costs and be able to adapt to changes quickly.

We chose to solely focus on Google Cloud so that we can unify data, make more informed decisions by effectively analysing data, and build the necessary cloud skills internally [instead of being faced with skills shortage as every cloud platform requires specific skills].

Dennis Seah, chief digital and technology officer, NTUC Enterprise and FairPrice Group

Improving operations

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FairPrice Group is still migrating to Google Cloud. Seah says: “Since we can’t afford a long down­time, we are working with experts from Google Cloud to do it in batches. Currently, our sales, supply chain, product, customer, and employee data are on Google Cloud.”

This provides greater visibility into its opera­tions such as being able to track in near real-time the progress of the shipping containers of its orders on their way to Singapore. By using arti­ficial intelligence (AI) to analyse shipment data together with external information such as world news and shipping trends, FairPrice Group could pre-empt how unexpected events would disrupt its supply chain. This capability, says Seah, enabled the company to quickly divert some of its orders before the Suez Canal blockage in 2021 was reported in the mainstream news.

He adds that having those data on Google Cloud also aids workforce optimisation. “We can use AI to forecast the workload (and manpower needs) at each store better so that we are not understaffed or overstaffed. We can also offer more flexible shifts of shorter duration based on the workload as not everyone wants to work a full shift. These will ensure our stores are always running efficiently and optimally.”

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Besides that, the FairPrice Group is looking at ways to use Google Cloud and AI to further improve its operations such as automating the supply chain and reducing food wastage, amongst others.

The case for generative AI

Seah shares that FairPrice Group will be jump­ing on the generative AI bandwagon too. The company is working with Google Cloud and BCG Consulting to identify generative AI use cases while turning to the Infocomm Media Develop­ment Authority (IMDA) for guidance on hav­ing the right guardrails for AI implementation.

Expiry date management for goods in stores is one of the identified generative AI use cases. “We plan to use generative AI to predict the food products that will soon expire and link it with our other systems to alert us to take the affected items off the shelves. We could perhaps sell those items at a lower price to consumers or the cooked food sellers under Kopitiam or NTUC Foodfare (which are both under the FairPrice Group) to reduce food wastage,” says Seah.

Additionally, FairPrice Group intends to lever­age generative AI to allow customers to verbally ask questions in natural language on its mobile app to find the items they desire. Seah explains that this helps the company to continue serving everyone efficiently and effectively, regardless of their tech savviness and as the company digitalises more of its operations and services. He adds that FairPrice Group will be more keen to use generative AI for other applications that bring about social impact, to stay true to its roots of being a social enterprise.