Showcasing Microsoft’s retail expertise at EuroShop

Posted By Werner Reuss
Director, Business Group, Windows Embedded Germany and CEE

In sports and in business, it is always about having the right team in place. The same holds true for an intelligent system for retailers: If you don’t have the right blend of devices, services and expertise, the solution you build won’t be as effective as it could be.

Microsoft Dynamics and Windows Embedded recently partnered up at the world’s largest retail expo, EuroShop, to showcase an end-to-end retail scenario for Jack Wolfskin — a sort of a European version of the North Face — featuring mobile and traditional POS.

Our booth display featured four “zones”: Home, Back office, Store (where the Jack Wolfskin scenario was located) and Storage, which brought to life the possibilities of Microsoft and its extensive partner network. Based on Dynamics AX, we built a fully populated ERP system, connected with an online shop, and a small “brick and mortar” store and storage. At the edge of the network, we used Windows Embedded-based devices, which allow us to go through real-world scenarios with the visitors.

 
In this context, mobile devices were a hot topic with our customers. We had the opportunity to showcase seven different form factors with different features and functionalities at our booth, ranging from HP’s ElitePad 900 to the Bluebird BM180. We saw high interest and had a lot of discussion here.

The Windows Embedded portfolio at our booth was made complete by digital signage, security and surveillance, and POS solutions. You can find more details about EuroShop 2014 on the website, and read more about Microsoft’s vision for intelligent systems in retail here.