Alessandra Bellini, former Tesco chief customer officer credited with helping consumers fall back in love with the supermarket and instrumental in the marketing of both Clubcard Prices and Aldi Price Match, has been appointed strategic advisor to the advisory board of Barrows Connected Store.
The in-store retail media tech company will be looking to Bellini – who was awarded an OBE in the 2026 King’s New Year Honours List for services to advertising and marketing – to provide “unbiased, strategic guidance and independent oversight, helping to challenge internal thinking and support long-term growth”, the company said.
Barrows Connected Store partners with several major retailers globally, including Tesco and Kroger, to transform their physical stores into “intelligent media networks” through digital aisle-end displays and screens around stores to “enable brands to activate highly impactful, easy-to-deploy digital campaigns at the point of purchase”.
Using its ConnectOS platform, retailers and brands can activate, manage and measure campaigns in real time.
“The Barrows Connected Store team plays a pivotal role in the transformation of how retail media networks and brands engage with customers – all areas I’m most passionate about,” said Bellini.
“The challenge is simple but demanding: we must remain focused on what genuinely matters to both our retailer customers and our brand partners. By keeping the shopper at the centre of strategy, innovation and excellence, Barrows Connected Store can deliver real value across every touchpoint,” she added.
Bellini was recruited by former Tesco CEO Dave Lewis in 2017 from his old company Unilever, and became a key figure in the Tesco turnaround as part of its leadership team and executive committee.
Her almost seven years at Tesco came to an end in 2023.
Bellini is the current chair of Ad Net Zero for the UK and serves as non-executive director for leading and emerging fmcg brands, including Better Nature and The Real Co. She served as president of the Advertising Association from 2021 to 2025.
“Alessandra brings a unique breadth and depth of understanding to unlock the full potential of Barrows Connected Store,” said the company’s global CEO James Hay, who was appointed to the role in January, having led the UK and European business for several years as MD before serving as global MD.
“I admire her inclusiveness, vigilance and focus on what really matters,” Hay added.
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