Connected Experiences for Retail: Case studiesConnected Experiences for Retail is about delivering the best value to customers through improved operations, sharp business insight, and the ability to create valuable shopper experiences. Microsoft and our Connected Experience partners deliver solutions that help retailers better connect information, systems, and people. Here are some examples. View case studies for: View more retail case studies.  American ApparelLike virtually all retailers and all businesses, American Apparel wanted to do more with less at its retail locations. Specifically, it wanted to boost store sales while reducing the cost of generating those sales. It met that goal with a solution provided by Xterprise, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, and based on Microsoft BizTalk Server RFID. Radio frequency ID (RFID) tags and readers help employees to get needed merchandise on the retail floor faster than before. As a result, store sales are up 14 percent, margins are up to 65.9 percent, and the labor time and costs spent on handling inventory are down by 35 percent, resulting in better-organized backroom management. American Apparel sees the technology as the first step in an integrated solution that slashes shrinkage and increases customer service, and it is already using the solution to make better decisions in real time.  AT&T$119 billion AT&T enhances the in-store customer experience with interactive surface computing technology. "We want to be known as the technologically advanced shopping venue, where you can have a cool, fun, interactive shopping experience. We want our customers to know that buying technology here reduces their chances of having soon-to-be-obsolete technology." - Andy Austin, Director of Retail Customer Experience, AT&T  Best BuyBest Buy, a leading specialty retailer of consumer electronics, computers, and applications, needed a more efficient approach to scheduling and routing for its Geek Squad brand-a team of field-based support professionals who serve customers in their homes and small businesses. IT executives decided to develop and deploy a full-scale scheduling, routing, and dispatch application to more than 2,000 Geek Squad Agents. While the application was under development, Best Buy deployed the mobile platform solution on which the application would ultimately reside to some 2,000 support professionals. Based on Windows Mobile-powered smartphones, it is helping Geek Squad Agents be more productive and provide better service to customers, thanks to rapid access to schedule and route updates, rich communication and collaboration capabilities, and easy access to Internet-based technical content.  CoopCoop, Switzerland's second-largest retailer at 1,500 stores, rolled out Microsoft solutions for Connecting Enterprise to provide rapid and secure access to information across its different departments and subsidiaries. Now, staff members enjoy quicker access to the entire body of information available corporation-wide, with user access privileges defined on the individual document level. Microsoft solutions for Connecting Enterprise have helped to fulfill the company's information sharing requirements and lower its administrative IT expenses.  The Co-operative GroupRetail operations at The Co-operative Group have grown so fast in the last couple of years that IT administrators needed to re-evaluate the electronic point of sale (EPOS) system. In order to track sales and manage information to and from the stores, The Co-operative Group’s software development team needed to create a database management system that was built on a more stable environment and could accommodate future expansion. Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on the Microsoft .NET Framework, developers built an application that addressed the unique needs of retail so well that in addition to using it in the company’s retail outlets, the company was able to sell it to other retailers. Stores save six hours a week cashing up tills and sales while the Group is saving £120,000 a year by deploying green IT.  CostcoCostco Wholesale Corporation is a major international wholesale distributor with revenues approaching U.S.$70 billion. Costco began using virtualization technology in 2006 and has expanded its investment to include Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with Hyper-V and Microsof System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008. With these tools, Costco can control IT spending, increase IT flexibility, and manage its virtualized server assets more efficiently.  Danske SupermarketWith more than 1,000 stores, Danish Supermarket Group is one of Denmark's largest retailers. To help keep up with customer needs, the company manages more than 10 terabytes of business intelligence data on the Microsoft Application Platform. To enhance its analytics, Danish Supermarket recently upgraded to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services for its 600 gigabytes of multidimensional cubes. The company has an additional 9 terabytes of data in its relational data warehouse, which has also been upgraded from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition (64-bit). All of the BI data is hosted on an HP Integrity server computer with eight Dual-Core Intel Itanium processors. Moving to SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services has given the company's 700 analysts the ability to perform product-level analytics of the more than one million products carried by the stores.  Family DollarFamily Dollar Stores, Inc., one of the fastest-growing discount store chains in the U.S., wanted to revamp its 16,000 checkout lanes and legacy POS systems. The company implemented Microsoft solutions for Connecting Stores. Today, the POS terminal provides access to both centralized and decentralized store applications, enabling greater employee productivity, improved customer service, and new revenue streams.  FNAC.comFNAC is an innovative retailer that sells cultural and consumer electronics in stores and through its Web site. FNAC distinguishes itself from discount stores by having highly competent employees with extensive product knowledge. To extend this high-quality and informative service to online customers, FNAC teamed with Microsoft and used the Windows Vista operating system to create a new smart client application for FNAC.com. Through this application, customers interact with product information as never before, greatly enhancing the buying experience. FNAC stores have also implemented the application on Windows Vista kiosks. Looking to the future, FNAC expects to deliver a more informative and consistent customer experience-both in stores and online-and looks forward to increased online sales.  JYSKGrowing by as many as eight retail stores a year, JYSK Canada wanted to further increase its presence and sales by making its merchandise available over the Internet. To do so, the company needed to ensure that it could take advantage of its existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, without adding unnecessary cost and complexity to its streamlined IT environment. In 2007, the company deployed Nav-to-Net, a Certified for Microsoft Dynamics product that enables online e-commerce and makes inventory levels and other product information in Microsoft Dynamics NAV easily available on the Internet. With Nav-to-Net, the company gained a Web site that can be easily updated in real time through its ERP system and managed by an IT staff of only four and one full-time webmaster.  METRO GroupThe METRO Group, an international retailing company with 270,000 employees, wanted to create METRO Group Networking-the "workspace of the future." METRO Group Networking is the standardized work and information platform for all METRO employees in all sales lines and cross-divisional service companies. The process entailed integrating various technical environments under a single, comprehensive user interface involving Networking Collaboration. METRO Group used Microsoft Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to implement the solution. Through Networking Collaboration, national and international teams now have user-friendly tools, such as virtual workspaces with common document libraries. Files and contacts are found quickly, time differences no longer matter, and urgent issues are dealt with efficiently.  OTTOGerman retailing giant OTTO is always looking for ways to offer innovative shopping experiences. A pioneer in multichannel retailing, OTTO is known for its specialized mail-order catalogs that offer customers high-quality fashion, furnishings, and technology at good value. In order to extend its lead in retailing innovation, OTTO wanted to build a virtual store for fashion apparel-a shopping experience that would break through perceived barriers in online shopping. Working with Microsoft, Microsoft Gold Certified Partner ATE Software, and design specialists from SinnerSchrader, OTTO built the groundbreaking OTTO Store application that takes full advantage of the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 programming model and capabilities of the Windows Vista operating system. The solution provides customers with stunning visuals and secure e-commerce functions. For more information, view the related video on our Connecting Commerce solutions page.  QuicksilverOnline retail is brutally tough, and companies can quickly find themselves with more expenses than profits. Successful retailers have to keep their operating costs low and their web sites fresh to be successful online. Surf-culture clothing retailer Quiksilver Americas used Microsoft software to create a clever product management tool called Bob that shortcuts the onerous administrative work involved in posting, refreshing, and managing thousands of online products. Instead of juggling dozens of spreadsheets and manually posting data to File Transfer Protocol (FTP) sites, Quiksilver merchandisers can create compelling marketing copy and manage Web commerce elements in a single user-friendly tool. One developer created Bob in a few weeks and linked it to an existing content management investment. Thanks to Bob, Quiksilver has been able to eliminate the search for spreadsheets and create a single repository of online product data that is easy to manage. Bob saves merchandisers hundreds of hours annually, giving them more time to focus on being creative, attracting customers, and boosting sales. Bob also helps Quiksilver keep headcount low, which is critical to turning a profit in today’s tough retail environment.  Tesco.comTesco.com, the world's largest online grocery retailer, is dedicated to ensuring a convenient and efficient shopping experience for customers. Since the first online shopping trial in 1996, the number of shoppers has increased rapidly-approximately 25 percent annually. To support this growth and continue to give customers swift and easy access to the products they want, when they want them, Tesco.com upgraded its IT infrastructure to SQL Server 2005. Working with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Tesco.com was able to complete the implementation quickly and easily. Now, Tesco.com can improve service by ensuring that shoppers' My Favorites lists are rapidly updated with their latest purchases. Even first-time users can access a favorites list based on in-store purchases. For Tesco customers, this means increased convenience and time saved when placing an order.  WickesWickes is a leading do-it-yourself retailer in the United Kingdom whose success relies on IT processes that maximize price competitiveness and customer-service excellence. Wickes wanted to replace its existing point-of-sale system, which was increasingly expensive to maintain and lacked the ability to deliver Chip and PIN services. After considering Linux, the company chose Microsoft Windows Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS) because of its ability to reliably support new services. Wickes then deployed WEPOS-based retail blade devices to all POS locations in all stores. Chip and PIN services are now running smoothly, and POS-related maintenance calls have fallen by 90 percent. What's more, Wickes is confident it now has a predictable technology-with plug-and-play features and excellent driver support-that can support growth.
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