How retailers are empowering business transformation with TCS and Microsoft Cloud

The
retail
industry
is
always
in
motion.
Shifting
macro-economic
influences
and
changing
customer
expectations
spark
new
business
models,
channel
strategies,
and
strategic
partnerships.
To
keep
pace,
retailers
require
a
strong
digital
core
that
delivers
powerful
data-driven
insights
while
staying
compliant,
maintaining
security,
and
preventing
fraud.  

Shree
Venkat,
chief
architect
at
TCS,
and
GV
Krishnan,
Head
of
Solutions
&
Sales
for
the
TCS
Microsoft
Unit
in
the
UK
and
Ireland,
note
that
business
transformation,
powered
by
artificial
intelligence
and
machine
learning
(AI/ML),
can
help
retailers
innovate
across
four
primary
areas:  

Customer
experience:
Consumers
want
to
engage
with
a
retailer
in
a
manner
that
eases
their
path
through
the
shopping
transaction. 
TCS
is
a
pioneer
in
delivering
cloud-based
solutions
that
facilitate
hyper-personalization,
such
as

Microsoft
Dynamics
365
with

Microsoft
Dynamics
365
CoPilot,
which
turns
service
agents
into
superagents. 
With
Copilot,
which
brings
next-generation
AI
capabilities
and
natural
language
processing
to
Dynamics
365,
agents
can
quickly
craft
a
draft
email
or
chat
response
to
customers
with
a
single
click. 

These
insights
can
be
used
to
deliver
exclusive
pricing
offers,
personalized
call
center
access,
and
other
rewards
that
build
customer
loyalty.
AI/ML-based
solutions
like 

Microsoft
Cognitive
Services
helps
further
drive
bespoke
preferential
services
through
sophisticated
vision,
language,
speech,
sentiment
and
contextual
analysis
to
make
bots
more
informed
and
more
conversational.  

Retailers
are
also
improving
customer
experiences
by
removing
friction.
Digitally
driven
innovations
such
as
automated
self-checkouts,
pick
and
go,
and
contactless
payments
are
helping
in
making
happy
customers.
“When
retailers
embark
on
this
journey,
they
gain
more
control
in
providing
optimum
customer
experience
and
give
their
customers
a
sense
of
affiliation
at
the
same
time”
says
Shree
Venkat. 

Store
and
channel
operations:
Customers
have
fully
embraced
ecommerce,
social
commerce,
mobile
commerce,
and
services
such
as
buy
online/pick
up
in
store
(BOPIS)
and
buy
online/pick
up
at
curb
(BOPAC).
5G
and
edge
computing
technologies
are
helping
retailers
integrate
and
optimize
in-store
experiences.
TCS
specializes
in
AI-powered
vision
technologies
like

Microsoft
Azure
Percept
to
create
a
smart
retail
store
solution
that
helps
with
visitor
recognition,
foot
traffic
analysis,
store
design
planning,
product
quantity/quality
checks,
and
more.  

Supply
chain
&
sustainability
transformation:
Integration
of
data
and
digital
systems
with
suppliers
is
a
quintessential
requirement
for
retailers
to
embark
on
intelligent
supply
chain
initiatives.
IoT
&
AI/ML-powered
technologies
can
enable
business
capabilities
such
as
just-in-time
inventory
management
and
auto-replenishment,
which
in
addition
to
reducing
waste
and
saving
money
also
help
retailers
track,
record,
manage,
reduce,
and
report
emissions. 
(In
this

whitepaper,
TCS
and
Microsoft
explore
how
to
embark
on
supply
chain
decarbonization
initiatives.)  

Employee
experience:
Shree
Venkat
believes
the
above
three
areas
of
business
transformation
seamlessly
and
quickly
empower
retail
staff.
Low-code/no-code
technologies
like
Microsoft
Power
Platform,
Azure
Communication
Services,
and
Azure
OpenAI
enable
organizations
to
quickly
capture
customer
sentiment,
search
for
and
respond
to
customer
queries,
and
pass
on
the
information
to
their
frontline
employees,
providing
real-time
data
about
stocks,
product
insights,
customer
profiles,
their
buying
patterns,
and
other
behaviors
to
help
them
deliver
better
experiences
across
multiple
channels.
Training
employees
to
use
new
digital
tools
and
services
is
a
critical
step
in
the
transformation
journey
for
retailers. 

A
powerful
partnership 

Retailers
face
many
challenges
in
keeping
pace
with
rapidly
changing
markets
and
consumer
demands.
TCS
along
with
Microsoft
empower
retailers
to
maximize
the
value
derived
from
their
Microsoft
Cloud
investments.
The
TCS
Algo
Retail™
framework,
together
with
Microsoft
Cloud
for
Retail,
helps
retail
organizations
transform
into
resilient,
adaptable
enterprises. 

TCS
offers
a
rich
portfolio
of
intellectual
property
using
machine
vision,
conversational
assistants,
predictive
analytics,
machine
learning,
AI,
and
other
capabilities
on
Microsoft
Cloud.
They
include:  

• TCS
  Optumera™—
  A
  strategic
  retail
  optimization
  suite
  that
  enables
  integrated,
  intelligent
  merchandising
  and
  supply
  chain
  decisions 
• TCS
  OmniStore™—
  A
  future
  commerce
  platform
  that
  enables
  unified
  customer
  journeys
  catering
  to
  new
  channels
  and
  brand
  expansions 
• TCS
  Optunique™—
  An
  enterprise
  personalization
  solution
  that
  delivers
  contextual
  hyper-personalization
  across
  omnichannel
  journeys 

These
solutions
help
retailers
enhance
customer
engagement,
accelerate
the
launch
of
new
products
and
services,
build
differentiation,
and
unlock
business
value.  

Learn
how
to
master
your
cloud
transformation
journey
with
TCS
and
Microsoft
Cloud.  

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

See author's posts