The agreement will help users access insights from Dunnhumby about shoppers and use them to inform business decisions.

Dunnhumby Shop supports retailers and brands in making data-led decisions, while Dunnhumby Assortment helps users to understand shopper decisions within categories and examine opportunities and the performance of rival brands.

Azure will allow Dunnhumby to speed its report processing and data upload speeds.

Dunnhumby was recently announced as a launch partner for Microsoft Cloud for Retail, which brings together data sources to deliver more relevant, personalised customer experiences.

Gianluca Carrera, chief solutions officer at Dunnhumby, said: “Together we combine Microsoft’s leadership in cloud technology with Dunnhumby’s leadership in building better shopper experiences.

“With both now available on Microsoft Azure, retailers and brands can access this customer insight at speed.”

Shelley Bransten, corporate vice-president, WW retail and consumer goods industries, at Microsoft, said: “Retailers sit on vast amounts of data but often struggle to create meaningful insights for themselves or their suppliers.

“Through this collaboration, retailers across the globe will benefit from the powerful intelligence that Dunnhumby delivers through its tools with the scale, security and speed-to-market that has become synonymous with the Microsoft Cloud.”