London, 12 June 2018 – GS1 UK today announces that Tesco and Ocado have become the first retailers to sign commercial contracts for using productDNA and are now actively approaching their supplier base to start implementing the service into their businesses.

Both Tesco and Ocado have been part of the leading group of retailers and brands announced in 2017 committed to an industry charter for a common approach to product data management.

productDNA is the result of the retail industry getting together to agree a common language for products, being created ‘for the industry, by the industry.’ Key benefits of the new productDNA service for the UK grocery industry include:

• A common data model for all retailers using a set of agreed product attributes
• A simpler, faster product catalogue shared between suppliers and retailers
• Third party verification to improve the quality of product data

Expressing the need for launching productDNA, Mark Watson, Director of Planning & Supply Chain at Ocado, said: “Retailers and suppliers spend too much time on chasing, checking and re-keying product data. productDNA delivers a single product data catalogue that we will all own and trust. It will mean we can focus on what’s really important to our businesses, delivering innovation and improving the customer experience.”

Whilst the initial launch of productDNA focuses on the specific industry needs to streamline and improve the ‘new lines’ process, the service will continue to evolve to address the wider industry demands for a better quality, cost effective product data solution for the entire grocery market.

Outlining their commitment to productDNA, George Wright, Commercial Director, Fresh Food at Tesco, said: “When adopted universally across the industry, productDNA will give retailers increased confidence in the product data they receive, as well as helping to reduce the amount of inaccurate data and increasing the efficiency of our product data processing.”

Gary Lynch, CEO GS1 UK, added: “Shoppers and governments are placing greater demands on the retail industry to provide clear and accurate data on the products that they are buying – be it in terms of sustainable sourcing of ingredients, fit with dietary needs or simply correct images and descriptions of items. As a neutral, not-for-profit organisation, GS1 UK’s purpose is to help industry solve complex challenges such as these, and we’re delighted that both Tesco and Ocado have committed to implement productDNA as a step towards providing more accurate and consistent information about the products that they sell. We will continue to work with our cross-industry advisory group to develop productDNA to meet the demands of an ever-changing market.”

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Notes to editors

For further information or requests for interviews, please contact Tim Haidar: 020 7092 3584 / Tim.Haidar@gs1uk.org.

About GS1 UK

GS1 UK is a community of over 34,000 members working in retail, foodservice, healthcare and more. GS1 UK is one of 112 independent, not-for-profit GS1 organisations operating across 150 countries worldwide. GS1 UK helps everyone involved in making, moving and trading goods, automate and standardise their supply chain processes using the common language of GS1 global standards.

www.gs1uk.org