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Microsoft Industry Blogs > Retail & Consumer Goods

Retail & Consumer Goods

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Physical meets digital on Walmart Canada shelves, with SES-imagotag IoT technology 

  • Anya Minbiole
    By Business Strategy Leader, Retail and Consumer Goods, Microsoft
With shoppers returning to the stores, retail investments are flowing to omnichannel priorities to digitize stores, support frontline workforce across all channels, connect inventories across platforms, and accelerate fulfillment. Recent research conducted by The Economist shows that retailer respondents saw the pace of, and investment in, digital transformation accelerate during the pandemic.1 Improving the customer...Read more
a person sitting on a shelf

Empowering better care, everywhere, for everyone with Retail+Health 

  • Author avatar of Neil Jordan
    By Worldwide General Manager, Health Industry, Microsoft
Over the past year, the pandemic fundamentally changed several industries and impacted the means of consumption and distribution for goods and services globally. With the introduction of social distancing, the decline of indoor interactions and transactions, and unparalleled strain on hospital capacity and care teams, both retailers and health providers had to transform traditional business...Read more
a person sitting at a table using a laptop computer

NRF Retail Converge: Microsoft and the vital role of partners 

  • Robbee Minicola smiling for the camera
    By Senior Director, Partner Strategy, WW Retail & Consumer Goods Industries
Every single day for me is a partner day. While most Microsoft employees wake up eager to serve our customers, myself and Microsoft partner managers aim to drive success with partners that lead to their growth and of course, our customers’ growth. An amazing partner story will be headlined inside of Shelley Bransten’s Big Ideas...Read more
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Explore the new wave of cloud innovation at NRF Retail Converge 

  • Author avatar of Shelley Bransten
    By Corporate Vice President, WW Retail & Consumer Goods Industry
It is hard to believe summer is already here and I’m preparing for my BIG Ideas session at the upcoming virtual NRF Retail Converge event. Honestly, I can’t wait to talk more about ‘retail’s new clock speed’ and how we’re helping retailers unlock a new wave of cloud innovation. Although retail leaders continue to refine...Read more
Singapore aerial view

How IoT tracking in retail supply chains drives ROI 

  • a man wearing a suit and tie
    By Partner General Manager, Azure IoT Business Acceleration
The return on investment (ROI) story behind internet of things (IoT) tracking in retail supply chains is compelling—especially for shipments with a high inventory value, cold chains, or when on-time delivery is critical. With specialized IoT sensors, retailers can keep tabs on location and other valuable information like temperature, humidity, and vibration. This real-time insight...Read more
person stocking grocery store cooler shelves

3 ways retailers are using AI to innovate in-store operations 

  • a man wearing a suit and tie
    By Partner General Manager, Azure IoT Business Acceleration
Retailers looking to increase customer satisfaction while decreasing costs are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to transform operations. Retailers use AI in the cloud to process large volumes of data to deliver online product recommendations or to optimize demand forecasting. With the advent of AI-optimized hardware and container-packaged analytics applications, retailers are now applying AI at...Read more
woman in mask at the produce section of a grocery store. She is holding a paper bag and reaching for a red bell pepper

Announcing Microsoft Cloud for Retail: Built for what’s next 

  • Author avatar of Shelley Bransten
    By Corporate Vice President, WW Retail & Consumer Goods Industry
2020 was the year in which we experienced disruptive change at a pace and a scale that we could never have imagined. Yet it was also the year in which many retailers embraced digital like never before. Take REI for example, which launched a new virtual outfitting service to help customers assemble bikes, find the...Read more
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3 top takeaways from NRF 2021 

  • Author avatar of Shelley Bransten
    By Corporate Vice President, WW Retail & Consumer Goods Industry
This year’s National Retail Federation BIG show was something different—entirely virtual. But it came off quite smoothly, demonstrating how powerful digital transformation can be. It even had some advantages over an in-person event. I was able to see more sessions for one. And without aching feet. Still, even with the more accessible digital format, not...Read more
lasers in primary colors

Revolutionizing the retail supply chain with digital twins 

  • a man wearing a suit and tie
    By Partner General Manager, Azure IoT Business Acceleration
The business disruption caused by COVID-19 has resulted in four out of five retailers, 82 percent, changing their approach to how they manage their supply chains.1 Digital twin technology is one tool that retailers are adopting to address this issue. Digital twin technology enables retailers to model their supply chains as connected environments. Retailers can...Read more
a group of people standing in front of a mirror posing for the camera

5 IoT retail trends for 2021 

  • a man wearing a suit and tie
    By Partner General Manager, Azure IoT Business Acceleration
In 2020 we saw retailers hard hit by the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with dozens of retailers—Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney, and Brooks Brothers to name a few— declaring bankruptcy. During the unprecedented chaos of lockdowns and social distancing, consumers accelerated their shift to online shopping. Retailers like Target and Best Buy saw online sales double while Amazon’s e–commerce sales grew 39 percent.1 Retailers navigated supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19, climate change events, trade tensions, and...Read more
rolls of fabric stacked on top of each other in shades of pink, red, purple, and teal

Introducing Microsoft Cloud for Retail 

  • Author avatar of Shelley Bransten
    By Corporate Vice President, WW Retail & Consumer Goods Industry
If 2020 taught us anything, it was that no business is resilient to everything. But those that had laid their digital tracks early were better positioned to recover, and in some cases, even speed ahead. In fact, one retail expert said that we had “witnessed a 10-year evolutionary leap toward digital” in retailing. That’s quite a leap. And as a retail industry, we need to approach the new world we are...Read more