Jewelry brand Pandora has announced that it’s struck an agreement with tech firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to streamline its IT services—part of the brand’s ongoing overhaul of operations globally.
TCS will handle application maintenance, application development, and end user services—including service desk, store support, and IT security—for the jewelry brand.
It’s part two of Pandora’s IT revamp. The brand announced a cloud agreement with Accenture in July. And combined, the two tech companies will deliver IT services previously provided by around 60 suppliers, the company detailed in a statement.
The consolidation will cut annual IT costs by at least DKK 200 million (around $29.5 million), and the company says the savings will fund large investments in marketing, a new store design, e-commerce, and more. Over the coming year, Pandora will gradually move from its current IT vendor setup to TCS and Accenture. The transition is expected to be completed during the second half of 2020.
The streamlining of its IT operations is part of Programme NOW, the brand relaunch and business turnaround plan that Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik talked to investors about on an Aug. 20 conference call.
The planned changes, both recent and to come, include: debuting a new store design; establishing a new “visual identity” that spans all channels, online and in-store (the brand introduced its website redesign last month); new collaborations and celebrity endorsements; a new tagline (“We give a voice to people’s love—Passions, People & Places”); and the progressive release of new themed collections, including ones for Harry Potter and Frozen II.
Pandora’s been trying to stem its trajectory of sliding sales for several quarters now. In the second quarter of this year, comparable sales fell 10% (though online sales rose 22%). On a more macro level: The company’s sales grew only 3% in 2018, compared to 15% in 2017 and 24% in 2016.
“The deal with TCS completes the transformation of our IT setup and is an important milestone for Pandora,” says Pandora’s chief information officer Peter Cabello Holmberg. “It gives us a large global partner with strong skills in retail who will help us provide better and more cost-efficient digital services to the business and our customers.”
Top: Pandora earrings (photo courtesy of Pandora)
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