Solutions are aimed at retail and will help digitize physical stores and improve customer experience
Microsoft is announcing two new capabilities for the retail-focused Microsoft cloud, Smart Store Analytics and Store Operations Assist, which focus on digitizing the brick-and-mortar store and sales associate experience, enabling retailers to build resilience and do more with less.
1.Smart Store Analytics: This solution provides retailers with analysis of the profiles and habits of brick-and-mortar shoppers, as is already the case with e-commerce shoppers. Through the insights, they can optimize everything from product layout and recommendations to shelf placement and inventory. The solution will also offer consumers a better shopping experience. the convenience store Zabka, based in Poland, is one of the companies using the tool for this experiment.
Credit: Microsoft website
Microsoft's vision is to make the solution viable for retailers around the world, and to that end, it has entered into a partnership with AiFi, an autonomous store operator with the widest computer vision deployed in the world, which has 100 points of sale in several countries.
2.Store Operations Assist: the solution provides salespeople with tools to improve customer service and engagement. The aim is for professionals to be more productive and to have access, on a single screen, to all day-to-day operational activities. Empowering these employees with the right data can increase sales conversion rates and customer satisfaction. This app also allows store leadership to manage operational activities with dashboard-based analytics and insights.
“Retailers across all categories will need to build technology into the fabric of their business so they can do more with less. Every retail leader I speak with is aware of this. It's what we call 'Resilient Retail,'” said Shelley Bransten, corporate vice president, WW Retail & Consumer Goods Industry.
Understanding resilient retail
To better understand what sets resilient retailers apart from the competition, Microsoft commissioned a study by Futurum Research, for which 1,200 retailers from North America, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Malaysia, Japan and Australia were interviewed. The results suggested that those who consider themselves “resilient” or “very resilient” use a mix of advanced technologies – AI, retail media advertising capabilities, dynamic pricing capabilities, shopping analytics, and autonomous and automated store operations, to to name a few – outnumbering those who report that their companies are “not at all resilient” or just “somewhat resilient”. In addition, these retailers also:
- They want to be focused on the end customer experience.
- They want to put the salesperson at the center of everything they do.
- They believe that supply chain disruption is the main threat to future resilience.
Digital is what will make the difference between the retailers that thrive and those that fall behind. It's not just a way to deal with market adversities, but also a way to embrace the innovation that will define our tomorrow.
To learn more about resilient retail, how to adapt to change and thrive in uncertain times, visit the Microsoft Cloud for Retail.
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