Blended cloud and RPA transformation

Empowering people

Based out of Hobart, Adelaide and Sydney, Woolworths Finance Shared Services (FSS) supports Woolworths business units, customers and suppliers throughout Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. The organization handles over 12 million invoice payments; 620,000 supplier queries; and AUD $480 million in account sales revenue annually.

Two years before embarking on a cloud transformation strategy, the FSS contact center suffered from inefficient manual processes that dragged down key metrics like call response and payment dispute resolution times — a stark contrast to its progressive vision.

“We wanted to be seen as an employer of choice and build a culture that developed and empowered our people to achieve,” said Robert Fellowes, Customer Focused Transactions Services Lead at FSS. “That would mean implementing better technologies to deliver an exceptional, world-class customer experience.”

Change accelerator

After consulting with other contact center leaders at Woolworths, FSS combined its call management with RPA on the Genesys Cloud platform. “We looked at other vendors, but felt Genesys was industry-leading and provided more flexibility, implementation speed and opportunities to unlock greater value across the group,” added Fellowes. “We liked the simple agent interface and omnichannel roadmap for adding channels and features. And it gave us the ideal platform for integrating contact center data and developing our in-house RPA capabilities.”

Released from maintaining on-premises infrastructure, its IT team gained knowledge and proficiency in UiPath software. The resulting RPA solutions integrate seamlessly with Genesys Cloud and link to the organization’s SAP ERP system — providing near real-time responses to a range of inbound requests.

“Automating repetitive tasks like payment updates and document requests allows our agents to get to more calls and provide better service,” said Fellowes. “Now, for example, the system reviews the validity of a claim, forwards it for approval and makes an account adjustment, all in one seamless digital workflow.”

Wide-ranging CX and business benefits

The efficiencies RPA created allow agents to focus on the customer experience. Now 80% of calls are answered within 20 seconds, compared to four minutes before — a 91% improvement. “We’ve reduced the cost of doing business while significantly improving service levels for our customers and suppliers,” added Fellowes.

Complex invoice queries used to take seven days on average to resolve. Now they take 30 minutes — a 99% gain. Lead times for providing copy documents have reduced from two days to four hours — a 75% decrease. And money owed to Woolworths has reduced by 88%, a cash flow boost equivalent to AUD $35 million.

High-performance culture

Since the transformation of its contact center, employee engagement scores are up from 62% to 90% among agents handling calls — reflecting increased motivation and satisfaction. Business partner ratings have risen from 78% to 90% over the last 12 months as well.

“This is all enabled via the innovation of our teams, their passion for improvement and customer service, and the flexibility of the in-house RPA development team,” said Fellowes. “It’s a very different culture that challenges performance. Our mantra is ‘everyone is a leader’ with team members taking ownership and influencing the future direction of the department.”