With the general availability of Microsoft Cloud for Retail on february 1, Microsoft will meet this challenge with technology that will help retailers connect with their customers, their people and their data with a partner they can trust.

Microsoft will accelerate business growth by providing a comprehensive set of retail-specific capabilities across the Microsoft Cloud portfolio.

According to Shelly Bransten, Corporate Vice President, WW Retail & Consumer Goods Industry, "It all starts by unifying disparate data sources across the end-to-end shopper journey, enabling retailers to maximize the value of their data and resulting in a holistic view of the consumer.

Once connected, data and AI help retailers better understand and improve the consumer shopping experience, by providing more relevant and optimized experiences across the retail value chain.

Retailers can then build a sustainable supply chain in real time and boost their frontline workforce".

Enabled with the capabilities of Microsoft Cloud for Retail and Microsoft's rich partner ecosystem, retailers can be optimistic about four future opportunities, outlined below.

1. Maximize the Value of Retail Data

Discover the true value of retail data by unifying disparate data sources across the shopper journey, thereby finding insights that enable better experiences.

There are 40 petabytes of data generated every hour in retail, systems and data are siloed and disconnected, and most retailers are only configured to leverage a fraction of the available data.

Bransten explained in the blog that with Microsoft Cloud for Retail, Microsoft uses data models to tie together multiple systems and applications by unifying disparate data sources to establish a singular, detailed profile of each shopper. Capabilities here include unified customer profiling, shopper and operational analytics, intelligent fraud protection and retail media.

"When you make data-driven decisions, you know you're going to put the right products in the hands of customers when they need them. And we're going to have happy employees because they won't have to manage inventory that's not needed in their stores", Anne Cruz, IT manager for supply chain and merchandising, Walgreens.

2. Elevate the shopping experience

Transform the shopping experience through data analytics and new in-store technology to create more engaged shoppers with stronger lifetime value. In today's highly competitive retail landscape, personalization has become the standard.

According to McKinsey, while 95% of retail CEO's say they strategically prioritize personalization, only 23% of consumers think they are doing a good job.

With personalization at the heart of satisfying shopping experiences, Microsoft Cloud for Retail helps drive conversion by enabling personalized recommendations and search results.

Capabilities here include real-time personalization, smart stores, unified commerce, digital advertising solutions and seamless customer service.

"We wanted to better understand customer preferences and how they change over time. Those are incredibly important things for a company of our size to understand".

Sashi Kommineni, director of Business Analytics, Chipotle Mexican Grill.

3. Build a sustainable supply chain in real time.

Create a resilient and sustainable supply chain by connecting data across the ecosystem to identify issues and optimize performance. Today's consumers are frustrated by empty shelves. In many ways, 2021 was the year of the supply chain, or "supply pain," as it came to be known.

According to McKinsey, in the fall of 2021, more than 60% of consumers faced out-of-stocks and only 13% of them waited for the item to come back in stock. Among those who faced out-of-stocks, 32% ultimately switched retailers to make their purchase. That means many retailers are not only losing sales, but are facing reduced customer loyalty.

Supply chain transformation starts with the recognition that a retailer's data holds the key. Yet, despite retailers having a treasure trove of data from across their supply chain, many are unable to take full advantage of it.

With Microsoft Cloud for Retail, we help retailers better predict demand through the use of AI to optimize inventory and streamline order management to offer customers choice across channels. In addition, Microsoft helps retailers record, report and reduce things like carbon emissions in their effort to become more sustainable.

Capabilities here include supply chain visibility, demand planning and optimization, and flexible fulfillment.

"We've received great reviews from our customers about the great experience using our in-store curbside pickup. They are impressed by the communication and level of service they are receiving through Teams, and the resulting confidence means more purchases overall", Paul Medeiros, Associate Distributor-Owner, Canadian Tire, Cataratas del Niágara.

4. Empower the store associate

Equip store associates with solutions that enable real-time store communications, workforce management and automation. Retail always has been and always will be a people business, with many employees on the front lines of retail.

If there was ever any doubt about the importance of the retail front line, their Herculean efforts over the past two years have dispelled those doubts. These superheroes took on much of the change we have seen and experienced, with minimal training and amazing grace.

Survey results from Microsoft's recent Work Trends Index show that 60% of frontline workers are excited about the new opportunities that digital tools bring to retail, but 34% feel they don't yet have the right technology.

Investing in the front-line worker experience is investing in the customer experience. For example, industry-specific solutions, such as Microsoft Cloud for Retail, can display stock and supply chain data on mobile devices so an associate can quickly see the availability of an out-of-stock product and arrange for it to be shipped to the customer.

Retailers that have transformed frontline capabilities in this way have seen unprecedented returns in customer satisfaction. Capabilities here include real-time in-store communication and collaboration, retail workforce management, and process automation and professional development.

"With Tasks in Teams, we can create a culture of relentless customer care and ensure the right behaviors are in place in pursuit of that goal. If we get the customer service element right, the business outcome will speak for itself", Cahir Mullan, franchise partner and optometrist, Widnes Boots Opticians.

Partnering for the next era of retail

"Digital capability building is the new currency that drives resilience and growth for every retailer. Not just for this pandemic, but for future events and years to come. That's why digital co-innovation is a massive focus for Microsoft. We want our customers to build their own digital capability and become independent with us, not dependent on us. But we also know that we can't do this on our own, that's why we have an incredible ecosystem of industry partners that extend the value of Microsoft Cloud for Retail with additional solutions that address their most pressing challenges", said Shelley Bransten.

This partner ecosystem is a growing network of solutions that use a common data model format to integrate seamlessly and natively with the entire Microsoft Cloud for Retail.