Accenture has acquired REPL Group, a UK-based technology consultancy with offices in many countries including South Africa; specialising in solutions for supply chain, workforce management, store operations and retail customer experiences.
REPL uses its deep retail expertise, coupled with cutting-edge technology skills, to help global businesses deliver sustainable value.
“With COVID-19 permanently disrupting the retail landscape, businesses need technology more than ever to embrace change and deliver products to customers where and when they want them,” says Doug Blyth, an MD at Accenture Technology in the UK and Ireland. “With REPL now part of Accenture, we have significantly grown our capabilities to help clients reimagine their supply chains, people and store technologies to become more efficient and meet new customer needs.”
According to John Watling, client group MD for Accenture in Africa: “South African retailers have been tested in the last year due to reduced consumer spending. This challenge has been exacerbated by the onset of Covid-19. The acquisition of REPL will further strengthen our local capabilities and help our clients in making their supply chains more resilient. This includes ensuring that core business values guide supply chain decisions, reshaping the supply chain for the future.”
Kyle Harbinson, REPL’s lead partner in South Africa, says: “REPL’s South African team has become a key part of our global delivery capability, serving clients both locally and abroad in areas such as supply chain optimisation and workforce transformation. Being part of Accenture provides an exciting opportunity to combine REPL’s deep solution expertise with the breadth of Accenture’s end-to-end transformational capabilities to help South African businesses adapt to the accelerated pace of change that COVID-19 has driven in our market.”
REPL has relationships with key ecosystem partners, including Blue Yonder, and is recognised as a Gold Consulting Partner in Blue Yonder’s Partner network. The acquisition will further Accenture’s Supply Chain & Operations functional focus to meet demand for Blue Yonder’s cloud-based solutions — for which Accenture was recently recognised as Customer Excellence Global Partner of the Year for supporting clients with customer-centric supply chain transformations that capitalise on a cloud-first approach.