The role is described as being instrumental in leading the Dunnhumby partnership with Shoprite and fostering strong relationships with the South African grocery retail industry.

Ralphs (pictured) has 20 years’ experience in international customer science and previously spearheaded the setup of its Indian offshore analytics team, as well as international expansion programmes in Mexico and Germany.

After a nine-year tenure at Dunnhumby, he moved to analytics leadership roles in a number of European and Australian retail groups in London, Melbourne and Sydney.

Most recently, Ralphs led the Sub-Saharan African delivery team at Mastercard Data & Services in Cape Town, taking them through a period of significant growth and change over the last three years.

Dunnhumby’s South Africa team was established in 2012 to help retail partner Shoprite better understand its customers and apply those insights to deliver improved shopping experiences and more relevant marketing. Collaborating closely with Shoprite and its suppliers, the team analyse the shopping behaviour of more than 20 million African customers to better predict and meet their needs.

Commenting on the appointment, James Tamblyn, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Dunnhumby, said: “It’s great to be welcoming Andy back to Dunnhumby – with his knowledge of the industry and the South African retail sector, no-one is better placed to be leading the team.”

“South Africa is such an important player in the global grocery industry and, with so many global innovations beginning with our South African clients, I look forward to Andy building on this in the coming years.”