Ed Child, global head of consumer data and digital analytics, Costa Coffee

Describe your career to date

I started my career using data and analytics in GIS/Store network planning, linked to my degree in geography, which helped ground my interests in using data to make better business decisions. Roles then covered sectors including financial services and ecommerce, with a realisation that huge opportunities in businesses to apply data more practically. 

I then spent a long period in Asda and Walmart US, ensuring all of our customer data was used effectively and building a single customer view to power our CRM and personalisation. 

Retail is a real passion area of mine and I love the fast moving nature of the businesses, and looking at new opportunities to connect different data and solve business problems. 

Most recently I was appointed to lead consumer data/analytics at Costa Coffee, with one of the nation’s largest loyalty schemes and biggest data-sets on coffee. This provides an amazing platform to deliver more relevant/personalised experiences to our millions of Costa Club members, as well as look at how we share consumer insights back to the business and make better operational decisions.