Dunnhumby

Dunnhumby is a global customer data science company.

dunnhumby
TypePrivate (subsidiary of Tesco)
IndustryMarketing
HeadquartersHammersmith, London, England, United Kingdom[1]
Number of locations
50 offices in 30+ countries
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Guillaume Bacuvier
(CEO May 2017 – present)
ProductsTesco Clubcard, among others
Services
  • Data Consultancy
  • Customer Knowledge
  • Customer Engagement
  • Category Optimization
  • Price & Promotions
  • Supplier Engagement
  • Supplier Engagement
Revenue$444 million (2019)
Number of employees
3,124
ParentTesco
SubsidiariesKSS Retail, BzzAgent, Sociomantic
Websitewww.dunnhumby.com

Formation

The company was formed by husband and wife team Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby.[2] Humby was a University of Sheffield trained mathematician and the couple both worked at Caci. Wanting to start his own business, Humby resigned from Caci and left on the day that Dunn was dismissed. The couple[3] started dunnhumby in 1989, in the kitchen of their Chiswick, West London home.[2][4] The company began working with clients, including Cable & Wireless and BMW.[5] In May 2018, dunnhumby acquired marketing and promotions management company Aptaris.[6][7][8]

Tesco Clubcard

Dunnhumby originally gained prominence for helping establish Tesco Clubcard. In 1994, Tesco, which was second in the UK retail market to Sainsbury's, wanted to create a new loyalty card. The man responsible for Tesco's trials, Grant Harrison, attended a conference where Clive Humby was speaking.

Harrison agreed a trial with Tesco's then marketing director Terry Leahy and, after successful trials throughout 1994, the company was asked to present their findings. The first response from the board came from Tesco's then-Chairman Lord MacLaurin, who said, "What scares me about this is that you know more about my customers after three months than I know after 30 years."[9]

Current business

Dunnhumby 2018 revenue = £356m with a £22m profit. Company number 02388853. [10]

Tesco originally bought a 53% stake in 2001 for a reported £30m, increasing this to 84% in 2006,[4] before purchasing the rest of the shares.[11] The company is led by global CEO Guillaume Bacuvier and employs more than 2,500 people in 30+ countries, selling information from a 40-terabyte database to companies including Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and US retailer Kroger.[12] Dunn and Humby resigned from the company in October 2010 and remained non-executive directors through early 2013.[4] Dunn and Humby invested in the theatre analytics business Purple Seven in 2013.[13]

KSS Retail, a provider of analytics software and services for retail price optimization and promotions planning, was acquired by dunnhumby in 2010.[14] Founded in Manchester, UK, KSS Retail operated as a separate business unit until October 2015, when it was rebranded as dunnhumby Price and Promotion. KSS Retail developed and commercialized optimization software called PriceStrat that helps retailers identify the right prices and promotions as part of a revenue management and merchandising strategy.[15] Through dunnhumby Price and Promotion, the business also provides business intelligence software that helps retailers with promotions and market basket analytics.

BzzAgent, a Boston-based social marketing and advocacy start-up, was acquired by dunnhumby in 2011.[16] Founded in 2001, BzzAgent runs word-of-mouth networks in North America, Brazil and the United Kingdom, enlisting unpaid volunteers to try products from companies including Procter & Gamble, Unilever and L’Oréal, then share opinions about those products with others, in-person and online.[17] PowerReviews acquired BzzAgent from dunnhumby in July 2018.[18]

Berlin-based global advertising technology firm Sociomantic was acquired by dunnhumby in 2014,[19] according to dunnhumby's then CEO Simon Hay, to improve customers' online experiences by "mak[ing] online content personalised for people, based on what they actually like, want and need."[20] The company, founded in 2009, uses real-time bidding technology to purchase and display personalized digital advertising in milliseconds. Sociomantic operates in 60+ markets and 19 offices worldwide.[21]

Given the trading difficulty at Tesco, in autumn 2014, it was suggested that the company might be on offer for sale at £2 billion.[22] The BBC reported in January 2015 that Tesco was seeking a buyer for the company.[23] In April 2015, The Kroger Company announced it would buy much of Dunnhumby USA and create a new consumer insights subsidiary called 84.51°, effective immediately.[24]

In March, 2019, dunnhumby announced its partnership with the food and pharma Canadian company METRO. The purpose of this partnership is for dunnhumby to help METRO deliver more relevant customer experiences through the provision of customer data.[25]

References
  1. "DUNNHUMBY LIMITED". Companies House. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  2. Smale, Will (24 November 2014). "The couple who helped transform the way we shop". BBC News. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  3. "About us". www.dunnhumby.com. dunnhumby Limited. 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  4. Wood, Zoe; Lyons, Teena (29 October 2010). "Clubcard couple head for checkout at Tesco". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  5. Rigby, Elizabeth (11 November 2006). "Eyes in the till". Financial Times. FT Magazine. pp. 16–22. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
  6. "Data firm dunnhumby acquires Aptaris Software". Food Dive. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  7. "dunnhumby Acquires Apartis, Enhancing Promotion Management Platform - Retail TouchPoints". Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  8. "dunnhumby Acquires Aptaris to Bolster Customer Data Science in Retail". martechseries.com. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  9. Mesure, Susie (10 October 2003). "Loyalty card costs Tesco £1bn of profits – but is worth every penny". The Independent.
  10. companieshouse.gov.uk
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12109720
  13. "Clubcard duo Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby put £1m into culture". Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  14. "Account Suspended". Kssretail.com. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  15. Savov, Vlad (2 May 2014). "You priced this milkshake". The Verge. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  16. Lee, Edmund (23 May 2011). "Tesco Acquires Social-Marketing Firm BzzAgent for $60 Million". AdAge. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  17. Griner, David (23 May 2011). "BzzAgent Sold to Tesco Unit, dunnhumby – Adweek". Adweek.com. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  18. "PowerReviews Acquires BzzAgent". Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  19. Liyakasa, Kelly (3 April 2014). "Confirmed: Tesco's Dunnhumby Buys Retargeter Sociomantic For Retail". AdExchanger. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. "Technology | Sociomantic Labs". Sociomantic.com. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  22. Wood, Zoe (10 October 2014). "Passed their use-by date? The businesses Tesco could sell". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  23. Miller, Joe (8 January 2015). "Tesco to close 43 stores despite better Christmas sales". BBC News. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  24. "Kroger buys most of dunnhumbyUSA". Cincinnati.com. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  25. "dunnhumby Renews Relationship with METRO through Long-term Partnership, Powered by Customer Data Science". www.businesswire.com. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
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