COVID was hugely disruptive for businesses around the world, with shutting stores and shifting consumer expectations. Microsoft, however, used the disruption to reinvent its physical and digital stores for a new age – and you can hear how by signing up for its upcoming webinar on Thursday 3 November at 10 am AEDT.
During the pandemic, businesses large and small had to contend with shifting consumer expectations. With shops closed, businesses had to move online but consumers still demanded swift deliveries. However, with stretched supply chains and challenging circumstances for frontline workers, businesses had to react quickly.
In the upcoming webinar, Carissa Allen, world wide director of Microsoft stores and Michelle Casey, Microsoft digital stores lead ANZ, will be joining our very own editor-in-chief and CEO David Hovenden to explore how Microsoft went about rewriting its retail strategy in the face of massive disruption.
The trio will discuss Microsoft’s own learnings and initiatives from changing its retail presence, as well as what’s next for the company’s consumer and business stores.
Microsoft used the disruption caused by the pandemic to completely reimagine its approach to retail across both its physical and digital channels. Rather than standing still, the software giant transitioned to a digital-first model and transformed its customer experience and touchpoints in 190 countries around the world.
It started its digital transformation early during the pandemic and swapped to a digital sales force quickly. By 2021, Microsoft Store became Customer Zero for Microsoft Cloud for Retail with migration to Dynamics 365 Commerce for web.
Microsoft also learnt a huge amount about how to execute a successful transformation. Setting a “North Star” is important to help guide your activities, while making sure that customers remain at the centre of operations and that cultural change is driven from the bottom-up, as well as the top-down.
New digital experiences also ensured that customers were still talking about Microsoft and engaging with the brand. With no end in sight to the pandemic in 2020, it was essential that the company found a way to keep its core customers coming back, while trying to overhaul its model.
Key themes to be explored include:
• Retail Model transformation
• Humanization of Digital
• Frontline Worker Enablement
• Gathering Data and Generating Insights
If you want to hear about how one of the world’s largest and most important tech companies pivoted quickly in the face of unprecedented challenges, register HERE and join us on 3 November at 10 am AEDT.
