Turn your dead data into a super-intelligent retail brain
Azure for Retail

What’s wrong with retail data?

There’s far too much of it.

40 petabytes engulf the industry every hour. That’s equivalent to 40 billion photographs, or a song lasting 80,000 years!

Your data floods in from supply chains, transportation networks and warehouses. Customers add buckets more whenever they buy, or just browse.

You cannot possibly keep track it all, so:

• You don’t know how decisions impact your entire operation. Nor can you see the results in real-time.
• Scaling your data storage is expensive. On-site servers always need more floor space and physical security.
• Protecting customer information is a constant worry. How do you guarantee it’s safe from cybercriminals?

What to do?

Microsoft Azure gives retailers a thoroughly tested, proven solution

You’ve probably heard of Azure

– you may already be using it in some areas of your business.

It’s a long-standing, proven cloud computing platform. Use it to host data, applications and websites – any aspect of your operation.

Azure has been around since 2010, and a Frost & Sullivan study found 95% of users are ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied.’

However, you may not appreciate all the unique ways it helps you. Azure Synapse is critical for retailers. All your siloed information connects to a single hub, just like the spokes on a bike wheel. Every second Synapse analyses and organises your incoming data.

Artificial Intelligence tools scour through billions of calculations to pinpoint new efficiencies.

It’s like giving your operation a superhuman retail brain

As you make decisions, Power BI presents results visually in real time.

This plugs in to Azure’s data through Microsoft’s Power Platform.

Or use Azure as the foundation for your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

Dynamics 365 has everything needed to:

• Get a complete view of every customer – and target them with personalised promotions
• Find surprising new ways to improve supply chain efficiency – and build entire shipping schedules in minutes.
• Connect your floor staff to the same tools – with help from Microsoft Teams – so they rapidly solve problems when dealing with customers

… there’s no faster way to scale your data.

You’re connected to the world’s largest server network

You have total flexibility.

As your data pool expands or contracts, it automatically reconfigures.  And you only pay for the space you actually use.

• Compare your savings with Azure to on-site server costs –
  • https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/pricing/calculator/

Physical data centres burden you with permanent overheads. As your data grows, you need more storage space and security. Scaling these systems – up or down – is slow and expensive. New configurations take weeks.

Azure ends this hassle immediately.

Your storage costs are kept to the barest minimum.

You also save a bundle in I.T. security.

That’s because Azure has 3,500 security professionals keeping the system updated.

Once you’re have Azure, they all work for you.

Moreover, it’s the only platform to offer continuous security health monitoring. See how well you’re protected at any moment, or if there’s any cause for concern. Security and authentication – which otherwise takes days to code – are now automatically handled by your data platform.

Your developers focus on new solutions, nothing else.

Azure works with all your current retail systems

It’s easy to install. Bring your on-site data centres – or other cloud services – onto this single platform. Since Covid-19, businesses choosing this “hybrid” option have increased 19%. Over half of them mention ‘ease of migration’ as a key benefit.

Meanwhile, 67% of Azure users believe they’re now ahead of the competition.

It’s easy to see why.

A shocking 90% of retail data is disorganised, scattered across different departments, constantly adding to your overheads. Connecting your systems to Azure makes you up to 10 times more effective.

You get maximum value from all the data under your nose.