The Record - Issue 18: Autumn 2020

168 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om Hedgie Bartol Business development manager for retail for North America at Axis Communications In these times, more than ever, retailers are looking at how they can use their existing tools and technologies to better serve their sales associates and customers. With new terminology such as social distancing taking over our vernacular, we are rising up to meet the needs of retailers in the new normal. Retail loss prevention practitioners have always been problem-solvers by nature, and in these times, they find themselves needing to implement solutions rapidly, effectively and with great flexibility. By leveraging the power of technologies such as video surveillance, coupled with analytics for identifying the activity in the store, they can get much closer to the goal of doing more with less. In addition, if they implement cloud-based solutions, they will meet that need for flexible and rapid deployments while obtaining the business intelligence required to enhance operations.” Chaudhry. “Retailers will have to adjust their operational models to keep pace with customers’ evolving needs, preferences and behaviours.” While some retailers are making small changes to their business models, others are com- pletely reinventing their operational strategies. Microsoft, for example, will permanently close all its physical Microsoft Stores and focus on serving customers via its digital storefronts, which include Microsoft.com and stores on Xbox andWindows. According to Chaudhry, the move is partly because Microsoft’s online sales have grown rapidly as it has expanded its digital product portfolio over the past few years. In addition, the teams from the Microsoft Stores have suc- cessfully helped hundreds of thousands of small businesses, enterprises and education customers via virtual training, workshops and camps since they began working remotely in late March. “The way Microsoft has approached our retail presence has proven to be successful beyond any physical location for us,” explains Chaudhry. “We’ve been able to build upon our online retail strategy over the past several years and in doing so, have been able to hone our craft when it comes to providing top-notch experiences online. We plan to do more of the same in future. All our retail store employees will be offered the opportunity to be reskilled and move into other key positions, where they will provide customer service, training and support – either from our corporate offices or remotely.” All the changes in the retail landscape in recent months make it difficult to predict what the future shopping experience will look like for customers and employees. “We anticipate that the situation will con- tinue to evolve for a long time,” says Chaudhry. “Whatever happens, Microsoft and our partners will remain dedicated to developing the inno- vative tools, technologies and other resources front-line retail employees need to work effi- ciently and safely, and deliver exceptional cus- tomer services and experiences.” F E ATUR E We ask a selection of key Microsoft partners how they are helping retailers to work more productively and better serve customers Partner perspectives “The retail industry has experienced significant ongoing changes over the past few months”