Today’s retail customers expect flexible interaction channels that allow them to shop wherever they are, whenever they want – supported by personalised offers, a sufficiently high availability and assortment of product, and rich product information that enhances their shopping experience.

1. INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT
INTELLIGENCE AT WORK IN THE
Retail Sector
INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO DELIVER AN OMNI-CHANNEL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Today’s retail customers expect flexible interaction channels
that allow them to shop wherever they are, whenever they
want – supported by personalised offers, a sufficiently high
availability and assortment of product, and rich product
information that enhances their shopping experience.
Aberdeen Research asserts such leading retailers are making
the move to align their brand, product offerings and marketing
messages with the goal of creating a uniform customer
experience across all channels. Research from Aberdeen
indicates 55% of retailers believe their customers expect a
similar experience regardless of channel, and that the top five
channels of engagement are online (87% of retailers believe
this), brick and mortar (70), mobile (56%), call centre (56%)
and social media (52%).
THE RETAIL SECTOR CHALLENGE:
HOW DO WE BALANCE?
Rapidly-changing
customer
expectations
Through the web and mobile
technologies, customers
have access to information
wherever they are, whenever
they want it, allowing them
to compare prices and
products before they buy.
Retailers who are slow to respond to changing consumer
preferences risk eroding their value proposition and, ultimately,
the profitability of their business.
By embracing technology, retailers have an opportunity
to exceed their customers’ expectations across a myriad of
channels. In order to drive growth while controlling costs,
industry-leading retailers are connecting, transforming and
optimising their retail operations to deepen their relationships
with their customers while improving operational efficiency by
optimising their retail systems.
Delivering
sustainable and
profitable growth
Retailers have increased
competition and pricing
pressures, needing to deliver
competitive offerings while
servicing an increasing
number of channels.
As consumers we are looking to be in control. We want to be
offered convenience and choice. Multi-channel retail is about
passing back decision-making to the consumers. How can you
accommodate these needs as a retailer?
INTERGEN DELIVERS A RANGE OF MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO HELP RETAILERS
ATTRACT, INVOLVE, TRANSACT WITH AND RETAIN CUSTOMERS ACROSS AN OMNICHANNEL
CUSTOMER JOURNEY. WE CALL IT INTELLIGENCE AT WORK.
ATTRACT
INVOLVE
TRANSACT
RETAIN

2. Helping retailers
understand and
address the complex
and ever-changing
requirements of
today’s customer
IT’S ABOUT SOLVING BUSINESS PROBLEMS
It isn’t simply about the technology. It is about delivering
cost effective solutions to solve business problems. Microsoft
Dynamics AX provides the flexible, omni-channel heart your
organisation needs to solve the business challenges it faces
today and tomorrow in trying to attract, involve, transact
with and retain customers.
ATTRACT
Whether in-store, online or using mobile solutions, we can work
with you to develop a complete, compelling and consistent
experience across all of your core shopping channels.
Research from Pew Research Center published in mid-2013
indicates that 72% of US adults are now active users of social
media, making this channel a significant one for delivering
targeted and personalised messages to an active audience;
similar levels of adoption are reported in other countries. By
utilising social media, and incorporating it into marketing
strategies – including the use of CRM – retailers can target and
attract customers at a low level.
Complementing this is your website, and its e-commerce
capabilities, through to mobile applications – whether for
your customers and for your employees on the floor – through
to innovative technologies that differentiate your in-store
experiences, Intergen has a range of options available to help
you attract and engage customers.
BALANCING
Rapidly-changing
customer
expectations
Delivering
sustainable and
profitable growth
Giving me the
information I
need, when
I need it
Supporting
multiple sales
channels
INVOLVE
In-store or online, the customer experience is all-important,
allowing your customers to engage with your staff and
your brand, to both understand your offerings and your
organisation.
As consumers, we crave human interaction in our customer
journey and we increasingly rely on social media and online
channels for selecting and confirming our product and
buying decisions.
As companies, we can either listen to these channels
and incorporate them into our strategy, or run the risk of
ignoring surveys that tells us that nearly 4 in 5 consumers
believe that social media will be the next tier of customer
service and that companies who fail to respond in
this channel will risk repeat, positive involvement from
consumers and prospects.
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
Employ social media and online channels, including your
website, to let your customers know what you do and what
you sell, building relationships with them, and selling them
your products and services. Use Microsoft Dynamics CRM to
track and manage your customer details, segmenting them
based on their buying needs and preferences, using email
marketing or more traditional print methods.
Create innovative experiences within your store locations,
and online, to interact and involve your prospects and
customers. Leverage Microsoft investments in custom kiosk
and touchscreen applications, or other content management
platforms, creating user experiences that not only sell your
products but your company’s brand values and overall
customer value proposition.

3. Ensuring a
good customer
experience
Transacting with
me anywhere
Delivering the
best value
Giving choice and
ensuring supply
Rewarding
loyalty and
customer
support
Listen to my
feedback
Providing the
agility to change
as needs evolve
TRANSACT
Whether at the point of sale or at the back end, online or
through a mobile application, you can ensure transactions
are processed effectively, utilising the same underlying retail
technology.
Online, a personalised e-commerce solution can ensure the right
products – and combinations of products – are promoted and
sold to your customers, reducing the cost of sale and creating
new opportunities.
In-store kiosks and display screens can be deployed to
communicate key messages to your target customers, with
special offers and key products being promoted within your
brick and mortar operation, with those same messages being
communicated through other in-person channels.
RETAIN
Customer retention and engagement remains a priority for
all retailers, and retention needs to be considered across
channel. By utilising social media, and incorporating it into
wider marketing and engagement strategies – including
the use of CRM – retailers can evolve a more intimate
relationship with key target markets.
Consumers want to be heard, and mobile, social and digital
channels are likely being used to share instant feedback
about your brand, your products and your customer
experience – whether you solicit them or not.
By monitoring activity and driving better experiences through
the application of business intelligence, retailers can gain
valuable insights into what customers are thinking.
Newer technologies can be implemented to enhance the instore experience even more, creating virtual dressing rooms,
personalised messaging and a range of other ways to interact
with your products, staff and brand.
With the right tools, the right practises and the right
approaches, you can better understand your customers’
needs and create compelling customer experiences based on
tangible, quantitative feedback.
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
Underpinned by Microsoft Dynamics AX, your financial
management, merchandising, replenishment and supply chain
integration are all aspects of your business that can not only
work together but can be linked to other parts of your customer
journey and overall value proposition. From your Point of Sale
(POS) through to your back office, Dynamics AX for Retail
provides a comprehensive retail management solution that
meets the needs of most retailing organisations.
By incorporating robust business intelligence tools, and
applying analytical practises as well as integrated feedback
and social media engagement tools, your organisation can
create an amalgamated omnichannel experience. We have
highly skilled and experienced team members that can
help you harvest your customer insights from existing data,
and help you create more or better information to drive
customer satisfaction and engagement.

4. WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL CUSTOMER JOURNEY?
As a retailer, your customers can interact with you – and your properties – in numerous ways.
Understanding how your organisation interacts with your customers is critical to ensuring your on-going success.
Customers may research a purchase on your website, in your store or in a catalogue; or they may simply ask their friends for
recommendations using social media and make a purchase online. There are thousands of combinations when it comes to
mapping your customers’ journeys and how you attract, involve, transact with, and retain them. Regardless of the approach they
use, more often than not the customer is in control of how, where and when they get the information they need about their
purchasing decisions, and how they transact any purchase – ideally from you and not a competitor. By understanding the different
journeys a customer may follow, and ensuring your systems can cater for those journeys, is critical to ensuring your business – in
whatever form – remains relevant to the customer and their needs.
INTERGEN IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF DELIVERING RETAIL SOLUTIONS
We help address retail sector requirements across (but not limited to) the breadth of Microsoft solutions, including:
• Financial and retail management solutions built on
Microsoft Dynamics AX
• Mobile software clients and applications
• Customer engagement utilising Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• Application design and development using the .NET Framework
• Improved in-store experiences using Dynamics AX for
Retail and third party solutions
• Device and software management and deployment using
Microsoft System Center
• Targeted websites and online experiences
Intergen is a information technology services company that solves challenging business problems using the latest Microsoft solutions.
We provide our customers with a range of solutions and services, including financial and relationship management, portals, content and
collaboration solutions, custom software development, and consulting services.
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Australia info@intergen.com.au / www.intergen.com.au United States info@intergenusa.com / www.intergenusa.com New Zealand info@intergen.co.nz / www.intergen.co.nz