Security breach

RS
36 RS February - March 2013
review NRF
Avery Dennison is seeing a major shift in the way RFID
technology can impact the shopper experience. As adoption
continues to grow, with major implementations by JC Penney,
Macy’s, Marks & Spencer and others, it is important for retailers
to understand the full impact RFID can have on their business.
On the second day of the NRF expo Avery Dennison hosted
a panel of RFID experts on the topic “RFID – What’s Next?”
to discuss how retailers can take their RFID implementations
to the next level. The standing room only session provided
apparel retailers with information about how item-level RFID
can enhance the customer experience by improving inventory
accuracy for omni-channel and mobile clienteling applications,
supply chain visibility, mark-down optimisation and loss
prevention.
This year’s NRF also saw the announcement that Tesco has
chosen Microsoft Office 365 for its companywide collaboration
and social platform. The grocery giant is committed to
deploying Office 365 to its employees working at the company’s
headquarters, in the field and in stores,across all its locations in
Europe and Asia.
“We want to put technology in the hands of all of our
colleagues, whether in the store, distribution center or office,
so that they can create value for our customers,” said Mike
McNamara, chief information officer, Tesco. “We see Office 365
as an important solution to help us continue to meet that goal.”
Office 365 enables a search functionality that quickly delivers
access to experts, information and tools to help employees do
their job, and it allows people to work more effectively together,
regardless of geographic location. It also permits information to
flow in a way that supports efficient decision-making by bringing
relevant information directly to the user.
Stay connected
One of the challenges businesses face when they experience
global growth is that it becomes difficult for staff to work
together as a team, share knowledge, find the right person or
answer, and consume increasingly unstructured information
without feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from the
organisation as a whole.
“Office 365 will serve as the portal for all Tesco employees,
suppliers and colleagues, encouraging a cultural shift to more
flexible ways of working,” observed McNamara. “This will allow
our colleaguesto engage with each other and deliver a great
shopping experience on any channel, as well as encouraging
colleagues to share, re-use, and reward ideas and expertise.”
Tesco also sought to put in place an internal collaboration
platform that was more than just a repository for documents.
Instead, the company wanted to find better ways of
communicating ideas and news to its multinational workforce.
“Office 365 will enable us to be a fully connected organisation
that works closely together, proactively shares knowledge,
motivates loyalty and retention of employees, and encourages
better working practices to ensure that we create value for
customers,” added McNamara.
And, as part of its effort to simplify and modernise
technology solutions, jcpenney announced it is also rollingout
Microsoft Office 365 to team members throughout the
company.With Office 365 as its communication and enterprise
social platform, the company aims to improve customer service
and increase information-sharing between team members
through the ease and accessibility of the cloud.
“In selecting a cloud solution, we were looking for a partner
who would support our goal of becoming America’s favorite
store,” explained Kristen Blum, chief technology officer,
jcpenney. “And when we realised that we could improve
customer service even more by providing cloud-based
collaboration tools to increase communication between team
members, it was easy to choose Microsoft and Office 365.”
As well as their big customer announcements, Microsoft also
revealed the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics for Retail with
new capabilities and next-generation innovation to help retailers
deliver a complete shopping experience through end-to-end,
search-based e-commerce; next-generation point of sale (PoS);
and a true omni-channel commerce engine.
“Consumers have increased options for how and when
they shop,” noted Tracy Issel, general manager, Worldwide
Retail Sector, Microsoft. “To stay competitive, retailers must
put customers at the heart of their businesses and seek new
ways to deliver the most value, revenue and loyalty. Microsoft
Corp. gives retailers the tools and technology needed to fully
implement a customer-centric strategy across the enterprise by
increasing efficiency, empowering employees, taking advantage
of consumer insights and optimising operations.
“With our position as a consumer goods company and a
retailer, we are uniquely able to help retailers create a connected
shopping experience for their customers across multiple
channels and touch points, whether it’s at home, in the store or
on the go.”
FaceCake Marketing Technologies, Inc. previewed its
revolutionary augmented retail Try-On technologies in
Microsoft’s booth.
Utilising cutting-edge technology, FaceCake Augmented Retail
provides an immersive Try-On shopping platform that brings
FaceCake debuted Swivel Close-Up at NRF