Tesco has partnered with Adobe to expand its use of AI in analysing customer data, with the aim of improving marketing targeting and increasing sales, the businesses said.
The collaboration will mix Adobe’s AI technologies with data from Tesco’s Clubcard loyalty programme, which covers greater than 24 million households within the United Kingdom. The scheme provides members with offers, product recommendations, and discounts. Tesco’s Clubcard programme already uses purchase data to deliver these offers, and the partnership extends how that data is applied across digital channels. Tesco said the system will use Clubcard data inside its existing customer data framework and no changes to data terms or consent mechanisms were outlined.
Tesco said the mixing will support more precise targeting across its website, mobile application, and marketing communications. The system will deliver messages and offers based on individual shopping behaviour and preferences. The corporations said this includes aligning offers, messaging, and content with individual customer behaviour across channels.
The retailer holds a 28% share of the UK grocery market. It has identified digital engagement, online services, rapid delivery through Whoosh, its Marketplace platform, and retail media as key areas of focus. Tesco reported group sales of £16.4 billion for the 13 weeks to May 2025, with like-for-like growth of 4.6%.
The partnership will even involve a co-development model through the Tesco x Adobe Innovation Lab. Adobe engineers will work directly with Tesco’s personalisation and AI teams to construct and test applications using customer data and Adobe’s AI tools.
The system will use technologies akin to agentic AI and Adobe Firefly to generate marketing content, including images and duplicate. It combines transaction data and customer interaction signals to generate and deliver content, with agentic AI used to automate decisions on content delivery.
The corporations said the system is designed to regulate content and offers in near real time as customer interactions change.
Tesco AI initiatives beyond the Adobe partnership
Tesco’s retail media platform uses Clubcard data to deliver promoting and measure campaign performance based on customer purchases. It links marketing activity with transaction data across online and in-store channels, and allows brands to run campaigns using first-party customer data.
Tesco is testing an AI-powered assistant inside its mobile application that may support meal planning and construct shopping baskets based on customer preferences and buy history. The assistant is being trialled with around 280,000 employees before a wider rollout.
In a separate initiative, Tesco has entered a three-year agreement with AI firm Mistral to develop tools for internal workflows, data evaluation, and content generation. The partnership features a joint AI lab where each corporations’ teams collaborate on development.
Tesco already applies AI in areas akin to demand forecasting, delivery routing, and customer engagement through its loyalty programme. The company has expanded its technology workforce over the past five years to support these efforts.
The retailer is constant to take a position in its physical and digital infrastructure. Tesco plans to open greater than 70 recent convenience stores across the UK, including sites previously operated by Amazon Fresh, alongside further expansion of its Tesco Express network.
Tesco operates the Clubcard programme, while Sainsbury’s runs Nectar and Morrisons operates its More loyalty scheme. Amazon uses customer data across its grocery and wider retail platform.
Becky Brock, Tesco’s group customer digital transformation director, said the partnership would allow the retailer to deliver more timely engagement with customers. “Working with Adobe, we may be much more attentive to the needs of shoppers,” she said, adding that the corporate goals to deliver messages, savings, and concepts to customers at relevant moments.
Nathan Hancock, vice chairman and managing director for the UK, Ireland, Middle East, and Africa at Adobe, said the collaboration combines Tesco’s customer data with Adobe’s AI capabilities to support customer engagement across its channels.
(Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante)
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