152 “ Smart Store Analytics gives retailers analytics and insights to make sense of their data and grow their business” MARTIN KOSTAL, MICROSOFT There are two primary angles of attack for any business that is striving to maximise their profitability: increase sales or reduce costs. For retailers, sales can be increased by improving the shopping experience and making sure inventory is available. Costs can be reduced by improving the efficiency of their operations, and in particular, one of their key assets: staff. Microsoft has designed its industry cloud solutions to help customers achieve such financial objectives. “Microsoft Cloud for Retail is designed to support resilient retail by providing retailers with the tools and insights they need to quickly adjust to changing conditions and seize new opportunities,” says Martin Kostal, general manager for Microsoft Cloud for Retail. “Retailers are looking to accelerate their digital capabilities to give consumers what they want and show store associates that they are the most valuable asset.” Microsoft Cloud for Retail includes a Smart Store Analytics solution that is designed to help retailers make good decisions about the store experience based on their customer data. “Smart Store Analytics gives retailers analytics and insights to make sense of their data and grow their business,” says Kostal. “Store managers can assess the number of items moving from shelf to cart – monitoring window shopper data against paying customer data and determining how quickly customers check out while maintaining individual customer privacy. Additionally, the shopper heatmap helps managers understand which aisles are highly trafficked versus not. This way the store can avoid putting products that need clearing in the dead zone areas. “Changes to complementary product placement, ordering frequency, and promotional opportunities can also be made based on the recommendations provided by the artificial intelligence model. The ability to provide insights allows retailers to adjust their operations to improve customer experience. This can help to reduce wait times for customers, improve product placement, and optimise staffing levels.” For Polish convenience store chain Żabka, Microsoft Cloud for Retail is essential for its Nano store branches, where customers have a walk in, walk out approach to shopping – with no clerks and no checkout. Żabka is also using camera and sensor technology from solution provider AiFi to collect data by tracking customer behaviour and product selection. BY ALICE CHAMBERS New cloud-based tools are helping retailers to become more profitable by improving the customer experience and making their store operations more efficient FEATUREBoosting the bottom line
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