Smarter Retailing Solutions to Enhance Store Operations, Worker Productivity And Shopper Satisfaction Are Launched at NRF
Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has joined the Future Store Initiative, international retailer METRO Group"s technology-based vision of the 21st century grocery shopping experience. The first Microsoft® solutions specifically developed for the project are being unveiled today in the METRO Group Future Store exhibit at the National Retail Federation (NRF) 93rd Annual Convention & Expo 2004.
"Microsoft"s retail perspective and expertise bring together the consumer, the store and the retail enterprise, which fits extremely well with the METRO Group view," said Zygmunt Mierdorf, member of the management board and chief information officer of METRO Group. "We believe that the future of shopping lies in technology, both in the hands of consumers and extensively, but unobtrusively, deployed throughout the store, to create a more satisfying shopping experience and a more profitable, sustainable business."
According to Brian Scott, general manager of the Retail & Hospitality Solutions Industry Group at Microsoft, "It is clear that competing on price alone is a losing strategy. Retailers need to differentiate themselves from their competitors by using technology, both to understand individual customers" wishes, even before they are expressed, and to have the agility and real-time overview to deliver on these aspirations. The new solutions we have created for the METRO Future Store directly address the key business factors that define differentiation: smarter selling, smarter shopping and smarter in-store operations."