BARCELONA - 1 December 2015

According to Accenture’s 2015 Seamless Retail Research Survey, enhancing consumers’ retail experience through the use of devices and connectivity – including the in-store shopping experience, which brings more customers into the store; closes in-store sales; increases online sales; and enriches the brand ecosystem, while delivering customer value. Creating omni-channel experiences is no longer an option, rather an important part of the equation to deliver a strong, connected retail experience.

“Reinventing the shopping experience of tomorrow is not just about implementing the next best-of-breed commerce website, mobile or point-of-sale app,” explained Andrew Smith, Avanade’s head of digital business for Europe. “It is about rethinking and rebuilding the entire retail business operating model and establishing an agile, digital platform to support that.” 

The new Retail Centre of Excellence brings together Avanade’s industry innovation and digital  expertise, its Connected Retail solution and experience with the Microsoft Dynamics AX platform for Retail; its Digital Customer expertise around both the Sitecore Experience Platform and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This powerful combination was recently showcased at Expo 2015 in Milan. The Supermarket of the Future highlighted COOP Italia’s future of shopping experience and won the Expo 2015 Exhibitor Award for the best use of technology.

Additionally the Retail Centre of Excellence explores the changing role of physical stores, showrooms and distribution centres in the customer experience. “Our Retail Centre of Excellence brings together leading digital and retail experts, transformative tools and best practices,” explained Juan Gutierrez Botella, the newly appointed centre lead at Avanade. “With the goal of helping our clients deliver customer experiences across digital, store applications and infrastructure that can inspire and reinvent their retail businesses of tomorrow. The only buyer’s remorse here will be from retailers who didn’t take advantage of the Retail Centre of Excellence sooner.” 

“Since its launch earlier this year, the experience with Sitecore Commerce 8 powered by Microsoft Dynamics, has been extremely positive, particularly with existing Dynamics AX customers,” said Lars Nielsen, Chief Development Officer at Sitecore. “With Avanade’s Retail Centre of Excellence, we are able to support the skills and capabilities retailers will need to undergo a complete digital retail transformation; enabling retailers to connect-the-dots of their business.” 

“We are working with Avanade and Sitecore on a number of strategic projects at some key retailers and we are looking forward to some additional announcements in early 2016,” added Brendan O’Meara, Microsoft Managing Director for Retail. “Microsoft will be in force at National Retail Federation’s (NRF) show again this year, and we plan to showcase some of the innovative work we are achieving together in the retail industry, along with the new Avanade Retail Centre of Excellence.”