Putting a new face on the retail experience with Windows...

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Putting a new face on the retail experience with Windows 8 Microsoft UK, 2013


Retailers today are faced with unprecedented challenges as any visit to the high street will confirm. Empty outlets are common and many will often only be occupied by charity shops or the same old familiar coffee shops as buyers turn to the internet for lowest-possible prices or out-of-town megastores for maximum convenience. Stores that don’t have a strong online presence or app struggle against rivals that have a more advanced virtual store-front. Big-name stores have entered bankruptcy or are desperately reinventing themselves to stay relevant. It’s a bleak picture but one that is redeemed by opportunity. Supply chains and distribution are now global and the web makes it possible to market and sell to a global audience and scale in line with demand. There are more channels than ever before for consumers and the old virtues of delivering value and great service are as relevant as ever before. Brand and marketing excellence remain powerful differentiators, operational efficiency is a necessity and understanding the dynamics of store layout is persuasive.

It’s a buyer’s market: armed with product information, pricing comparisons and even knowledge of inventory levels and product refresh cycles, a new breed of super-consumer is emerging. The retailer has to adapt to meet this keen-eyed buyer and somehow resist the ‘race to the bottom’ of competing on price alone. Joining up multiple channels to address different types of buyer will be critical and the ultimate aim of delighting consumers remains as relevant as ever.

Introduction

Introduction

Face-to-face contact is perhaps the single most important means of cementing a relationship with private customers; yet it is also the most expensive.


Clearly there are no simple answers to retail macro challenges but IT remains the most important source of competitive differentiation available to businesses and retail is no exception to this rule. By harnessing today’s technologies retailers can wow buyers, create amazing new experiences for them and capture what’s going on in the business to grasp opportunities and ward off threats.

Enter Windows 8. Microsoft’s latest client operating system helps retailers respond to a fast-changing world where the empowered consumer is king and retailers need the tools regain control.

Technology, the great enabler

Retail is a highly competitive market. It has never been so easy to set up new stores as retailers create out-of-the-box store designs or launch brands aimed at specific demographics. Retailers need ultimate flexibility and ability to change on the fly - Windows 8 provides a platform for this.

Fast, flexible and cost-effective

Windows 8: What’s in it for retailers?

Support for tablets and other touchscreen devices through an intuitive new user interface so it’s easy to show off wares, key in sales information and check on product availability, all from one device


Built with mobile in mind, Windows 8 makes it easy for users to operatedevices like tablets, laptops, hybrid laptop-cum-tablet convertibles and (withWindows Phone 8) smartphones that let people instantly see wherequeues are building to deploy staff to help out.

Windows 8’s Windows To Go feature makes it easy to replicate working environments wherever people go by putting a full business system on a USB stick. The user can then plug in the stick and be as productive as on his local system from any X86 PC system, anywhere in the world.


Deep integration with Windows Phone 8, Windows Server, Microsoft Office, web services like SkyDrive and other members of the Microsoft family for ease of use and administration

Walk and talk

Windows 8 consistently makes the customer proposition a beautiful, sleek, design-led experience with fast navigation, touch and built-in search.

That means a compelling experience for self-service letting customers browse products, find out more information, check availability, order and select the optimal way products are delivered, whether that’s to the door, for collection in store or from another destination.

Delight customers and stay in control


For staff, Windows 8 provides a screen that lets them act quickly and intuitively, sharing knowledge with buyers, viewing their customer records using Microsoft Dynamics and seeing immediately what stock needs to be replenished. A staff member might help a buyer by searching for a product using the powerful built-in search capabilities of Windows 8. Then he can not only tell the customer about the product (perhaps after scanning its QR code with a Windows Phone 8 smartphone, looking it up on a portal that lets users share documents and ideas or even having an IM conversation with a supplier or distributor), know its price and the fact that it is in stock. But he can also show them visually on a planogram exactly where in the store similar products are located and what they look like.

For managers, Windows 8 means being in control. A manager might monitor KPIs on Live Tiles to get an instant view of operations, order advertising and store layout information to be displayed on large screens for customers to interact with, see what’s happening from a colleague’s perspective by taking on their role and be immediately productive on visiting a store with a connected tablet or phone that holds all their relevant data.


Tight integration with communications and collaboration tools like Lync, Skype, Sharepoint and Yammer to make teams more productive even when located in different parts of the country


Back-office simplicity and securityWindows 8 is highly secure with features such as BitLocker to encrypt data and Trusted Boot to ensure viruses and other malicious code cannot infect systems on starting up. Together with Windows Server 2012, devices are also highly manageable, letting admins protect access and lock down systems for specific roles.

The ability to create specific system profiles for roles is very relevant in retail. A Windows 8 PC or tablet for a sales advisor may be set up with demonstrations and to provide deep levels of detail while one for a shop assistant may be focused on pure point-of-sale capabilities. Maintaining configurations for specific roles helps ensure that systems are perfectly tailored and let users get to critical information quickly.

Back-office users such as accountants that might not need the extra functionality of Windows 8 can even use the traditional Windows desktop to accomplish process-driven tasks on business versions of Windows 8.


Windows To Go so USB drives can transport users’ entire systems from device to device so staff members are secure and productive even from a third-party device

Highest ever levels of security


From game-changing insight to strategic changeWindows 8 is a highly visual environment that’s perfect for analysing data and identifying critical trends and patterns. From a two-for-one promotion that’s not working to a store layout rejig that gets eyeballs on products retailers have priced to sell quickly, Windows 8 can help users see at a glance what is happening in their businesses. Line of Business Apps might be set up to measure promotions or KPIs. A regional manager can see which outlets are performing optimally. A procurement leader can see where inventory levels are low or high.

And in conjunction with analytics from the Microsoft SQL Server database, Windows 8 becomes an executive information dashboard that can be used to make bigger decisions such as the choice to close or open stores, address new markets, target a rival with a competitive offering or sell a new line.

From Game-changing insight to strategic change

Live Tiles might be set up to measure promotions or KPIs. A regional manager can see which outlets are performing optimally. A procurement leader can see where inventory levels are low or high.


A world of opportunityThe Windows 8 ecosystem of partners and software developers means that retailers have access to the broadest possible range of hardware, people, ideas and tools, making it easier to execute on retail strategy without managers having to worry about IT systems not working together.

No other software collection is so broad and integrated so users can quickly learn new tools and share information between systems, safe in the knowledge that documents will retain their formatting and appearance.Software developed in-house or via partners can be deployed across a range of devices from smartphones to laptops, desktops and tablets without extensive recoding so retailers gain the benefit of reuse and uniformity of look and feel as well as easy maintenance.

Retailers can also choose from a huge array of devices from many PC brands at a range of price points rather than committing to a single provider and of course there is a huge base of people qualified to maintain Windows systems as well as an unrivalled number of compatible applications.

A world of opportunity

No other software collection is so broad and integrated so users can quickly learn new tools and share information between systems, safe in the knowledge that documents will retain their formatting and appearance.


A Retailer ’s Day on Windows 8 7.30am: David, a supermarket regional manager, checks his Windows Phone device to see his agenda using Outlook Calendar and responds to urgent emails

9am: Stores open and all over the country staff are informed of promotions and offers on the Office 365 system. It’s a beautiful summer day, as HQ knows because weather forecasts are automatically updated on a Live Tile so managers decide to roll out a deal on cold drinks, picnic food, novels and CDs. Instantly it’s deployed in every store in the land where the forecast is for temperatures to rise above 22 degrees Celsius.

11am: David is due to visit the Norwich superstore. On the train he analyses the store’s performance visually, based on data pulled from Excel and SQL Server. He also decides to set up KPIs to show the store’s performance data versus other stores in Ipswich and Cambridge.

12.30pm: The Norwich store is getting busy as office workers enjoy the sun and stock up on cold drinks and snacks. By checking movement on the store plan, the store’s manager Sarah sees queues forming and opens another till deal with the rush.

1.30pm: David arrives and meets Sarah. Using Windows To Go, David loads his secure personal system on a store PC simply by plugging in a USB drive.

A day in the life of a Retail Manager on Windows 8


2.30pm: David walks the store and using Windows 8’s ability to connect to the fastest WiFi connection he gets a real-time view of operations: the promotion seems to be working.

3.30: A customer is interested in buying a Smart TV but the audio-visual section of the store is crowded. Sarah sees this and sends Arif, a technical sales specialist, to assist.

4pm: It hasn’t been easy as the customer is highly knowledgeable but by calling up product details on a tablet, contrasting features against other models, showing a price comparison and emphasising the extra-year warranty offer, Arif has made the sale. Then disaster strikes: the product is out of stock. Thinking quickly, Arif sets up an IM call with the Ipswich store which has stock and can deliver to the customer today. Sale complete.

5pm: Sarah shows David on her laptop how activating a large display screen points visitors to promotions in the AV section and tells David that Norwich could do better with these high-margin range if more space was available. David suggests changing the store layout so more visitors pass through the section and view alerts on one-off offers from the display screen.

5.30pm: David returns home on the train. He has been impressed with the potential for Norwich and now has great insight into local operations. He drafts an email to HQ, stating the case for making Norwich more focused on higher-margin AV products as there is little competition nearby.

7pm: On arriving home, David asks Sarah to participate in a Yammer group for managers with new store ideas. Sarah joins and sends a live update on the store’s day. The promotion worked but queues were too long in AV. She suggests he adds a Live Tile KPI to track how changes she has planned work out.

A day in the life of a Retail Manager on Windows 8


Rooms To Go case studyIncrease sales with Windows 8

Point of sales custom Windows RT touch application for sales associates to stay engaged with the customer throughout the sales process

Improved security tools built into Windows RT, with ease of management via the cloud with Windows Intune

Eliminate in-store desktop kiosks running Window XP to reduce overall capex costs

Windows VDI to extend the life of hardware and to lock down device

“Windows 8 provided Rooms To Go the ability to develop a custom touch based point of sale application with continuous connectivity and natural touch interface to allow for a cost effective point of sale experience across 2,000 sales associates in 175 stores”.

Russ Rosden, CIO, Rooms To Go


Conclusion

Technology remains the most important source of competitive differentiation available to businesses and retail is no exception to this rule. By harnessing today’s technologies retailers can wow buyers, create amazing new experiences for them and capture what’s going on in the business to grasp opportunities and ward off threats. Windows 8, Microsoft’s latest client operating system helps retailers respond to a fast-changing world where the empowered consumer is king, by giving retailers the tools to regain control.

Not only does Windows 8 help address the technology needs and challenges of industry, where organisations have made recent investments in a modern Windows desktop infrastructure, it will fit alongside and compliment that investment.

© 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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