Consumer brand leaders making a digital difference
Digital transformation is a hot topic—and for good reason. The opportunities for retailers and consumer brands to truly put customers first and at the center of their business is now for the first time attainable with today’s technology innovations.
A new Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report finds that the primary focus for 40 percent of business leaders move to digital has been to create an exceptional, highly-relevant customer experience. For retailers and consumer goods brands, I would expect that number to be even higher. In today’s digital age, providing an experience that is seamless, personal and differentiated is now paramount to their success.
This week, I was privileged to be part of a very exciting “Digital Difference” event hosted by Microsoft, where we showcased more than a dozen customers across industries, including leaders in the consumer space, who are becoming digital businesses by putting strategies in place that use technology to move them forward. These brands are building industry-leading solutions with Microsoft’s intelligent cloud, Internet of Things, mixed reality and artificial intelligence—and the results are tangible.
The customer showcase at the April 26 Microsoft Digital Difference event in New York
I was thrilled specifically to host two of our great customers—Hershey and King’s Hawaiian—at the event and would like to say I helped them tell their stories, but they did an excellent job without me. Here’s a look at how they are driving digital transformation, and making a difference, for their businesses.
Hershey
So what about the maker of everyone’s favorite candy and snacks? Hershey, a company with 123 years in business and more than 80 brands, knows how to win customer loyalty: Deliver exactly what shoppers want, when they want it. Hershey puts this expertise to use as a trusted advisor to brick-and-mortars and online retailers. The company’s insights show that combining new technology with beloved consumer brands can help transform today’s shopping experience.
By using Internet of Things (IoT) sensors that feed data into the cloud where it’s then analyzed via Machine Learning in Azure, Hershey is able to produce and innovate products faster. As a result, Hershey can extract insights and identify trends that enable the company to better understand how to manage costs and make strategic business decisions.
Here is George Lenhart at The Hershey Company telling his story to a group of reporters, he worked diligently through the day, it was clear how excited he is about the potential of the solution for Hershey
King’s Hawaiian with Powershelf
King’s Hawaiian knows that when a customer can’t find its sweet rolls on the shelves of their local grocery store, it’s not only frustrating for the shopper—it also means potential lost revenue for the brand. To combat out of stocks and gain better visibility into when, where and why products do or do not sell quickly, King’s Hawaiian is using smart shelving units from Powershelf. Built-in Powershelf technology tracks product availability, and when a shelf is empty, a restocking alert is automatically sent to store personnel. King’s Hawaiian can then access data gathered by the units via Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Power BI to make informed decisions about how it stocks its product at each store.
Here, Kevin and John from Powershelf are taking me through the solution in preparation for the showcase
In addition to Hershey and King’s Hawaiian, there were more great examples from consumer brands. Here’s what’s also new from Fruit of the Loom and Webjet.
Fruit of the Loom
Everyone knows Fruit of the Loom for its comfy casual wear and underwear, but what about its commitment to improving employees’ work processes? By capitalizing on Office 365 and the Azure cloud platform, Fruit of the Loom is transforming and powering productivity across the business. Recently, it began harnessing big data and developing predictive models that help the business better understand consumer behavior through Microsoft Azure Machine Learning from the Cortana Intelligence Suite and Power BI for Office 365.
Webjet
Responsible for managing thousands of hotel bookings daily, Webjet Limited, a global digital travel business including Australia and New Zealand’s leading online travel agency, has built a first-of-a-kind travel industry blockchain solution to create efficiencies in their wholesale B2B hotel booking process. The solution aims to improve reconciliation of transactions across multiple partners, enable employees to spend more time on customer experiences, and eliminate the chances of a customer reservation error.
If you’d like to learn more about Microsoft’s Digital Difference event and examples of digital transformation, there are some great resources for you here. We want to thank all our Microsoft customers who participated and for sharing their inspiring stories!
LinkedIn: Karen Garrette
Twitter: @kgarrette
