Microsoft set to roll out GenNext retail tools

Microsoft India is in advanced talks with 10 leading Indian retailers to roll out its next-generation automated retail tools.

The latest from the IT giant firm will offer next-generation automated tools such as mobile billing and smart supply chain management.

These tools will help differentiate a neighborhood retail joint from the large format retail space in the mall. Their usage will add value to the shopping experience, said Bill Gonzales, general manager, (worldwide retail and hospitality industries), Microsoft.

"Since managing costs and improving operational efficiency will always be important in the low-margin retail industry, retailers will have to implement those solutions that enhance customer experience and generate revenues across all channels," he said.

The Indian retail market, which is the fifth largest retail destination in the world, is estimated to grow from $330 billion in 2007 to $427 billion by 2010 and $637 billion by 2015. For an industry of this size, IT spend is restricted at 15 per cent where a meagre 5 per cent is allocated to software applications.

The Microsoft retail solutions will deliver accurate merchandising, improve planning, increase profitability, enhance customer experience, strengthen store operations, improve workforce management and create an intelligent supply chain. Indian retailers will like to possess a robust and scalable supply chain that complements expansion plans, he said.

On the domestic front, Pantaloons, Shoppers' Stop, Reliance Retail and Spencers' have been in the forefront to deploy fully- integrated core enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications, which is closer to automated retail.

Some them have gone a step ahead by initiating the pilot phase of next-level IT deployments such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and customer relationship analytics.

According to Rajiv Srivastava, general manager (enterprise and partners), "Though the use of technology in the Indian retail market is limited to in-store merchandising, financial and accounting tools, we aim to deliver an intelligent supply chain, inventory management systems and warehousing tools that will be interlaced with MS Office applications, making them simple to use."

"Retailers need efficient customer relationship management tools to transform their shopping experience from a traditional format to a tech-savvy experience," said Ananth Subramanian, (practice head- Microsoft dynamics) HCL Technologies.

The company has developed a customer relationship management (CRM) platform tool based on Microsoft platform that will help retailers track the shopping habits of their customers. HCL intends to focus on niche retail solutions and is partnering with Microsoft.