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Using @HoloLens in advanced retail planning solutions

#Dx32017 kicked off today – and the excitement at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre was palpable. Canada’s marketing, digital and retail Twitterati converged to learn about the latest trends driving business, including ecommerce optimization, harnessing Big Data, and the changing roles and skill sets required of marketers in a digital world. Now more than ever, customers are demanding a personal, seamless, and differentiated experience that makes shopping fun and rewarding (online *and* in-store), retailers need a competitive advantage to sustain them during this transformation – so marketers need to balance creative with data analytics skills.

And new technologies are empowering more than just the customer: they’re also helping businesses optimize operations and transform their end products. In a session entitled “What is mixed reality and what does it mean for your business?”, Bruno Capuano from Microsoft Partner Avanade shared a vision for how Hololens can completely change the way that shop for products.

Augmented reality can help retailers drive unique and personalized experiences for both employees and customers. Bruno showed attendees how Avanade developed a Mixed Reality scenario to support employees in the process of create and test store layouts. This enables agility and precise visual representation of the stores.

Inventory management and customer experience can also converge in the world of Mixed Reality. For most retailers, if a customer requests an item they have run out of, that is the end of the experience. Imagine, however, that the customer could check out the product in-store in mixed reality – this sparks a personalized experience which can lead that customer closer to placing an order for that item rather than walking out the door.

There’s no doubt that the retail space is going to undergo massive digital shifts in the coming years, with mixed reality being just one element. Learn more about Avanade’s take on Mixed Reality, and see how Microsoft is helping retailers drive digital transformation.