Azure<\/a> cloud technology,\u201d says Paul Mason, Director of Architecture and Assurance.<\/p>\nBy having a single platform, they ensure they have quality and consistency across all channels, seamless integration and scalability on demand. With one of the largest implementations of its kind on Azure in Europe, House of Fraser is now highly data-driven, improving performance metrics and reducing loading time online.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greatest test of the platform\u2019s performance came on Black Friday 2017, which turned out to be the biggest Black Friday event in our history. We had 1.7 million visitors and 10 million page views \u2013 something our previous platform would not have coped with. Our team turned up for work, braced for a highly charged day, then we watched in awe as the new platform absorbed the unyielding traffic, providing capacity on demand from the cloud and performing capably for both our customers and for our in-house team without a glitch. For me, sailing through that Black Friday with flying colours was a career defining moment,\u201d Mason says.<\/p>\n
The assistants of the future<\/h2>\n Creating a smooth and easy experience online or instore is key to customer retention. In brick-and-mortar companies this is the task of sales assistants, however traditionally this is done via an FAQ or Knowledge Centre link on the webpage. With the advent of AI and machine learning, you can leverage these tools to create better, smoother experiences, like what<\/p>\n
We\u2019re trying to give our customers a consistent, world-class experience across all the channels they use to interact with us,\u201d says Antonia Colin-Jones, Strategic Partnership Program Manager for Dixons Carphone. \u201cTo do that, we need to understand what the future of retail looks like and how technology can help us provide a better experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
They enlisted the help of Microsoft Services who used the Microsoft Bot Framework and Microsoft Cognitive Services to create Cami, their geeky and confident online bot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough the research, we determined that artificial intelligence could be the key to offering our customers the differentiated, personalised service and cohesive customer journey we are aiming for,\u201d says Colin-Jones.<\/p>\n
Cami can answer text-based questions through chat, and even analyses pictures of in-store shelf labels to check stock. She\u2019s so good at her job that staff even use her for quick stock checks as well. Cami will also remember customer\u2019s wishlists and searches, so when they go instore for help, staff can view this and direct them to that product or suggest another.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing Cami will do is to help strengthen our relationship with customers,\u201d says Colin-Jones. \u201cWe\u2019ll also improve our in-store operations by supporting our store colleagues to do their jobs more efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responsive and flexible campaigns<\/h2>\n One of Ukraine\u2019s top retail destinations They wanted to ensure their marketing campaigns and business decisions matched the fast-moving environment of today\u2019s digital world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had very inflexible and simplistic applications that were not meeting our business requirements. A particular problem for us at MOYO was that we found it too hard to mount timely outreach campaigns, and we were too often setting price points too much at variance with our competitors,\u201d says Head of PMO, Dmitrij Samarskij.<\/p>\n
By working with Microsoft partner E-consulting to build a new CRM platform on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure, they were able to improve customer loyalty and brand appeal via highly-targeted and relevant marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur market activity has become much more effective, as we can create programs quickly that we know will be of interest to our customers,\u201d he says. \u201cWe also like the way that we can identify and sell to very specific demographics now, which our older systems simply never let us do.\u201d MOYO estimates they\u2019re enrolling more than double the number of new customers daily and have had a 30% increase in online transactions.<\/p>\n
Mobile shopping whenever, wherever<\/h2>\n Now armed with the power of mobile browsing, customers are purchasing wherever they are, whenever they want. 70 percent of website traffic for comes from mobile devices, so their mobile-first strategy was central in transforming their business with Azure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed a platform that would be flexible so that we could try new things in the presentation layer, in the way that consumers interact with us,\u201d says Bob Strudwick, Chief Technology Officer at ASOS. \u201cCurrently, that means a mobile-first strategy, and in the future, it will mean conversational commerce and augmented reality. It will mean integration with social platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n
ASOS is now easily able to personalise its front-end services without modifying the back-end infrastructure, allowing greater flexibility and personalisation. Moving to the cloud also meant that ASOS would no longer be at risk of a single point of failure, protected by Azure\u2019s automated resiliency.<\/p>\n
By switching to this strategy, they more than doubled the volume of Black Friday orders from the previous year as well as accelerated the development of innovative features to target new markets and stay at the top of trends.<\/p>\n
Find out more<\/h1>\n Read about the future of retail<\/a><\/p>\nFind out how you can improve customer experience with AI<\/a><\/p>\nThe top retail marketing plans infographic<\/h2>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What are the latest top retail marketing trends? Find out in our article how companies are using top marketing trends to innovate and stay competitive in the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":1165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"post_tag":[175,128,134,211],"content-type":[],"coauthors":[110],"class_list":["post-542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retail","tag-ai","tag-azure","tag-digital-transformation","tag-marketing"],"yoast_head":"\n
Top 5 retail marketing trends - Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n