Essity

Robert Sjostrom currently works as the President of global operational services at the global hygiene and health company Essity, where his responsibilities include global sourcing, global business services, business technology, IT services, and managing a groupwide technology-enabled business transformation program. Before joining Essity, he also worked as a global senior executive at Capgemini. Having years of working experience as a leader in different organizations, Robert keeps a passion for driving transformation, performance, and communication, both internally and externally.

What are some of the challenges faced by the retail industry?

One big challenge in the retail industry today is the data flow between suppliers and retailers. Retailers are closer to consumers than suppliers and are more aware of shifting trends that can determine the demise of one product and the potential for another. Sharing retail data analytics can lead to insights that add value to both parties, as well as to consumers. However, it is found as people have started to value data more than before, they don't always want it to be shared due to commercial advantages.

We, at Essity, make an effort to collect external data from various social media platforms and other internet channels, as well as our own direct to consumer channels. When we started working with big data, as an additional source of data combining with working with focus groups of 20 consumers to gain insights, we discovered that  we can collect richer data much faster. I sometimes exaggerate and say that the insights previously gained in ten years can now be accomplished in five days. It is of course not fully true, but we collect richer data much faster.

What are some of the best practices that you personally advocate when working with multiple teams or multiple departments within the retail sector?

We make an effort to blend both supplier data and knowledge obtained through procurement into the creation or innovation of products, as well as how to sell them to customers and retailers. We also concentrate on both customer and consumer demands, as well as other stakeholders. These are two main aspects that we follow presently. However, moving forward, we will try to keep advancing it according to the needs.

 We also concentrate on both customer and consumer demands, as well as other stakeholders 

How do you help companies transition from their legacy infrastructures?

We are in the midst of a tremendous transformation. It is now more important than ever for any business owner to understand their business to offer value to the customer and aid in making future predictions. In the connected world we are living in, we are using technology to meet the needs of our customers and consumers and our digital platform is a valuable source of consumer data and consumer interaction. Furthermore, staying informed keeps an organization on track and ensures a pleasant voyage. So, my responsibility has always been to combine business, consumer, and technological ideas and provide an overall view of what technologies alone are not capable of doing.

What are some of the technologies that you think are important for retail space today? 

AI is enabling retail systems to work together to optimize customer experiences, forecasting, inventory management, and more. We have begun to work more on AI learning analytics and also have taken a novel approach to assist the labor market in developing AI capabilities. These skills will enable them to work directly with customers rather than depending on local businesses.

What would be your piece of advice to your peers?

To promote digital transformation in the retail arena, I believe we should first focus on the business and then try to integrate technology to improve it.