Chinese Supermarket JV for dunnhumby

Tesco customer data business dunnhumby has set up a joint venture with Chinese supermarket chain China Resources Vanguard (CRV), through which the latter will provide the former with data from its shoppers and twenty million loyalty card users.

State-owned CRV has 4,425 shops in Hong Kong and the Chinese provinces / municipalities of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing, and it employs more than 200,000 staff. The deal brings dunnhumby into the Chinese market and the firm says it intends to strike deals with other retailers across the region.

Commenting in the Financial Times, dunnhumby CEO Simon Hay said: 'Given the growth and the changing demographics of Chinese consumers, we believe that the more data and science we can bring, the more we can understand customers and drive growth for our clients'.

dunnhumby is one of several parts of UK supermarket giant Tesco currently up for sale, in an attempt to pay off some of its adjusted net debt of £8.5bn, and amidst a profit warning of £7bn of writedowns this year. Final bids for the firm are due in next week.

Web sites: www.dunnhumby.com and www.crvanguard.com.hk .