Microsoft says Dynamics AX for Retail R2 will be available in more than 50 countries starting 1 February 2011
Microsoft says Dynamics AX for Retail R2 will be available in more than 50 countries starting 1 February 2011
This week, at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference, Microsoft announced the upcoming second release of Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail (R2), the next iteration of Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail, which was made generally available in August 2010.
Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail offers midsize and enterprise specialty retailers point-of-sale (PoS), store management, supply chain, merchandising and financials capabilities to deliver business productivity and customer service in a single, integrated solution.
Brendan O’Meara, Microsoft Enterprise and Partner Group senior director, told Retail Technology: “From a historical perspective, Microsoft has been heavily involved in retail for about 10 years now. We have a legacy business around PoS and instore infrastructure that is enabling retailers to be adaptable and efficient in serving customers better.
“But we also have reliable and proven software to help manage the entire retail business from a central Head Office location. It integrates with our significant presence in e-commerce, where SharePoint offers integrated search as a result of the further enhancements a couple of years ago, for example.
Joining up the channels
“Retailers are increasingly leveraging digital to achieve segmentation and personalisation to, as well as cross and upsell which, integrated with Dynamics CRM [customer relationship management], means these online tools can now pervade stores,” he added.
Microsoft said Dynamics AX for Retail R2 features enhancements that promote insight, where Retail Role Centres enable the quick and easy discovery of key data, helping people make more informed decisions and be productive.
Focusing on loyalty, expanded scenario templates and centralised management designed to be accessed ‘out of the box’ have been included to help retailers enhance the customer experience.
New interfaces for assortment and item management have also been added to speed workflows and help drive productivity. Meanwhile new localisations and translations are included to support the needs of growing multinational organisations.
A number of complementary partner solutions were also featured in the Microsoft booth, including recently announced solutions from Aldata Solution, global business solutions supplier to organisations that serve the retail consumer and wholesale distribution markets.
Partner solutions from Avanade, HCL Technologies and Retaligent Solutions, built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, were also on display. These solutions are designed to give retailers the ability to personalise the customer experience across multiple channels, increase loyalty and drive effective marketing.
